UK To Passively Monitor Every Vehicle

DrSkwid writes "The UK Police are building a network to monitor the movement of every vehicle in the U.K. through an extensive Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system. The data will be retained for 2 years. The Register further reports that the system will likely be used for issuing speeding fines." From the article: "The primary aims claimed for the system are tackling untaxed and uninsured vehicles, stolen cars and the considerably broader one of 'denying criminals the use of the roads.' But unless the Times has got the spacing wrong, having one every quarter of a mile on motorways quite clearly means they'll be used to enforce speed limits as well, which would effectively make the current generation of Gatsos obsolete. Otherwise, checking a vehicle's tax and insurance status every 15 seconds or thereabouts would seem overkill."

Comments

Re:wow

[ben0207]

Only for those that commit crime.

Which is why Im personally fine with the whole idea. Why track me? I go to college and do collegey type things, then on weekends I work in a shop doing shoppy things. Not exactly a global terror ring.

As for tracking us with this, as far as Im concerned, those that need to hide are exactly those that need monitoring.

Re:Speed Limit

[aussie_a]

If that's all this was, I'd have no problem with it. Speeding fines are a voluntary tax. Everyone is able to stop paying them whenever they want. You just have to do this funny thing called "follow the law." If you want to be able to do whatever speed you want (like on the german Autobahn (spelling?)) then petition your congress critters (and work towards it with like-minded people and not giving up after one letter) or move to Germany.

However this isn't the only issue with these cameras. There's the privacy issue (will they be able to be used to show I buy drugs? For example, if I happen to stop a drug dealer on the road and talk with them asking for directions, will the fact I spoke with him be all that's needed to have my house searched?) and the cost issue (it aint going to be built for free y'know).

Waaaaambulance

[Ribbo.com]

Seems to be a lot of people crying about the system. They probably enjoy breaking the speed limit. Here is a controvertial little thought though. If you need to get somewhere for a certain time, how about leaving 20 minutes earlier and not speeding? Your life can't be that hard to get in order than you cannot manage it. I have no complaints about methods being brought in place like this. One of the big advantages of the system is the government will be able to track where all the traffic is going and where from. What this means is that if there is a lot of traffic in certain areas they will then subsidise local and national public transport to put on services in the area and reduce the car overload. This was last achieved by the UK national census in 2000, some of the questions asking people about their travel habits. I really do not see the issue about someone knowing what you're up to, after all, you all know i'm sat at my computer right now having written this reply. How ever will I live with you knowing that information?

Re:What's a Gatso?

[jazir1979]

ummm .. if you need to speed in order to pass them, you really shouldn't be passing them.