UK Police Implement Roadside Fingerprinting Tools

mormop writes to tell us the BBC is reporting that police in the UK have implemented a pilot program that allows officers to fingerprint drivers using a small handheld scanner connected to a database of approximately 6.5 million prints. From the article: "Officers promise prints will not be kept on file but concerns have been raised about civil liberties. [...] It is primarily aimed at motorists because banned or uninsured drivers often give false names, although pedestrians could also be asked to give prints if they are suspected to have committed an offence."

Comments

Typical

[Jaknet]

I submitted this 6 hours before this one was sumbitted.... but because scuttlemonkey is a regular submitter mine gets binned and it included the link to the BBC story as well.

Yes I know I'm going to get modded down.... but as it seems to be only the favourites here who are allowed to submit... sod it.

Re:Probable cause

[Who235]

Yeah, but don't worry.

Officers promise prints will not be kept on file

See? They promise not to abuse their power, so it's all okey-dokey. They won't put all your information in a huge database and track your every move until the day you lie deep in the cold, cold ground and are no longer a threat.

In the US the police need "probable cause" but they usually just make that up if you object to a search or some other privacy infringing action.

Probable cause? What a quaint, old-fashioned notion! Today, if you really piss them off, they can just call you an enemy combatant and disappear your ass to Gitmo. You can talk to your extreme renditioner "Mr Smith" about probable cause all day long while he's making you think you're going to drown and hooking your nuts up to a car battery. Don't fret, though. If you haven't done anything wrong, then you don't have anything to worry about. Just sit back, relax, and watch your rights sail out the window like everyone else's while we band together to bring those big bad terrorists, immigrants, uninsured motorists, pedophiles, deadbeat dads, and jaywalkers to justice.

Jebus, people. This is really getting out of control.

Re:What about a driver's license?

[IIH]

Isn't this what a Driver's License is for? Or do British not have licenses (or not require that drivers carry licenses)?

No, you aren't required to carry it with you, but are supposed to produce it on request within a certain number of days.

However, it is clear to me that this is aimed at forcing the adoption of biometric ID cards (or more accurately the ID database behind it), just in smaller steps.

1. First it will only be used for those without their licence on them. (for reasons given)
2. Then it will be used to verify they are the person in the licence (pictures can be faked, gotta check your biometrics, sir).
3. Then as a result of 1 and 2 above, they already have biometrics of most people on file, so the database is mostly complete.
4. Biometric ID cards introduced (usual reasons given) - "not compulsary" you know)
5. We have everyones's biometrics, so send them a card whether they requested it or not (we have the data, we're being nice and making it easy for them)
6. Then, then most people have biometric id cards, make them a legal requirement (everyone has them, and it "stops crime/bad guys")
7. Viola.

In short this is step one of the "Barcode Britain" process.

A parallel step is happening in 2008, where non-EU nationals in the UK will require an ID card to receive several services, but eu people won't, but the obvious question is how will someone prove they are an eu nationals? Result - forcing people to get an ID card in order so they don't need to show ID card. Only a government can think that twisted!