THERE IS a call for explanation after it has been revealed that as many as ten MILLION car journeys a day in the UK are being logged by the police.
A civil liberty group has said the information about where and how road users get about is to be stored on a national database for five years.
The claims are that as many as 10 million journeys a day are being recorded using the automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) system and that the figure is about to rise to as many as 50 MILLION trips every 24 hours.
The information is to be captured and held at a new National ANPR Data Centre in Hendon, north London.
The Home Office has confirmed that the data is now being kept for five years instead of the originally-planned two years.
According to The Guardian newspaper, there is an Association of Chief Police Ofiicers ANPR strategy document advising officers to "fully and strategically exploit" the data gathered.
So here we have the latest step in the spy-plate scheme which looks set to be introduced by the Government over the next few years.
Already there are moves to bring in a law forcing every vehicle in the UK to have a tamper-proof numberplate that will be issued by the DVLA, if the plate is tampered with or even removed from a vehicle it will shatter.
Combine that with the pay-as-you-go tag system that the Government have suggested (the tag to be fitted in the numberplate is one option, so road users will not be able to remove it) and now the admission that 50 million journeys a day will be monitored and the information held to be exploited by the police, plus the upgrades in Sat Nav technology and the world of a constant speed-monitoring system linked directly to the police for 24-hours a day, from your own car is just around the corner.
Speed cameras on the decline? You bet they are. In a matter of a few years the police won't need them. If you do 71mph on a motorway your own bike or car will shop you to the cops instantly via the on-baord tag and Sat Nav monitoring system. And there'll probably be an electronic speeding ticket waiting for you on your email by the time you get home from your ride.
Clever, these politicians...
