We know where you've been

The Open Rights Group (ORG) are a not-for-profit organisation aiming to raise awareness in the media of digital rights abuses. My friend Suw Charman, who is Executive Director, has cajoled me into making a contribution that will mostly involve researching certain issues and writing up summaries for the ORG wiki.

My first assignment was to find out what I could about the National Vehicle Tracking Database. "The what?" you may ask. It's hardly surprising you have not heard of it because there has been very little coverage in the media and yet there could be serious ramifications for vehicle owners. Here is the summary I wrote for ORG:

A new national surveillance system will record the movements of every vehicle on the road for at least two years. A network of cameras will automatically read every passing vehicle registration plate and this information will be used to create a database of vehicle movements. Police and security services will be able to use this information to analyse the movements of every driver in the country for several years.

Thousands of existing CCTV cameras are being converted to read number plates using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology. These cameras will provide coverage 24/7 on all motorways and major roads as well as cities, towns, ports and petrol station forecourts.

A central database will be installed alongside the National Police Computer in London to store the details of 35 million number plate "reads" taken per day. The information recorded will include time, date and precise location. The camera sites will be monitored by global positioning satellites.

Subsequent developments after the initial launch of the scheme in March 2006 may include extending the storage period to five years and incorporating more cameras into the network, thus increasing the capacity of number plate "reads" per day from 35 million to 100 million.

Sources:
Association Of Chief Police Officers
Common Dreams News Center
Spy Blog

So, if you own any kind of vehicle, the authorities will have a record of your every move. You might reason that anything that helps the police to track stolen vehicles or known criminals would be a valuable tool. You might say, "Well, I have nothing to hide." You might be willing to give up a little of your privacy for the greater good in these dangerous times. Yes, but what is the error margin with the current ANPR systems? How can the system recognise false number plates? Criminals have been known to place forged number plates over their vehicles' plates in order to evade detection. What if one of those false plates has your registration number on it? What if a terror suspect has a false plate with your registration number on it? How would you feel if the security services hauled you in on terror charges based on such evidence? Oh, but there must be failsafes in place; somebody somewhere must be responsible for preventing abuse of this information. Well, perhaps you should read this...

ANPR Strategy For The Police Service 2005/2008 - "Denying Criminals the Use of the Road" (PDF, 184.43 KB)

and this:

E.C.H.R., Data Protection & RIPA Guidance Relating to the Police use of A.N.P.R. (PDF, 88.77 KB)

... and tell me where it says who will be responsible for ensuring that your rights to privacy are protected.

Of course, the police and security services are up against it and need all the information they can get in order to keep us all safe; but the lack of reassurances against potential misuse of information on our movements must surely be a source of concern.