As more vehicles are being registered every day and ANPR camera use is on the rise, the reality is that drivers are likely to be recorded by ANPR cameras four times a day. Civil liberty and other pressure groups continue to ask the question, do the benefits outweigh such a violation of public privacy? asks Jim Gannon.
According to the National ANPR Data Centre (NADC) website, Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology is used to help detect, deter and disrupt criminality at a local, force, regional and national level, including tackling travelling criminals, Organised Crime Groups (OCGs) and terrorists. ANPR provides lines of enquiry and evidence in the investigation of crime and is used throughout England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
How it works
As a vehicle passes an ANPR camera, its registration number is read and instantly checked against database records of vehicles of interest. Police officers can intercept and stop a vehicle, check it for evidence and, where necessary, make arrests. A record for all vehicles passing by a camera is stored, including those for vehicles that are not known to be of interest at the time of the read that may in appropriate circumstances be accessed for investigative purposes. The use of ANPR in this way has proved to be important in the detection of many offences, including locating stolen vehicles, tackling uninsured vehicle use and solving cases of terrorism, major and organised crime. It also allows officers’ attention to be drawn to offending vehicles whilst allowing law abiding drivers to go about their business unhindered.
Retention and access
Around 7750 ANPR cameras nationally submit between 25 and 30 million ANPR ‘read’ records to the National ANPR Data Centre (NADC) daily. ANPR data from each police force is stored with similar data from other forces for two years. The police have clear rules to control access to ANPR data to ensure that access is for legitimate investigation purposes. Members of staff only have access to ANPR data if it is relevant to their role and the majority of those who have permission may only do so for a maximum period of 90 days from the date it was collected. Some staff are authorised to access data for up to two years subject to authorisation of a senior officer. Searches of ANPR data can confirm whether vehicles associated with a known criminal has been in the area at the time of a crime and can dramatically speed up investigations.
Camera locations
In addition to being mounted within police vehicles, ANPR cameras within police forces are used at fixed locations where they will help to detect, deter and disrupt crime. In line with national policy, the police do not disclose details of fixed locations as this information is likely to be of benefit to offenders and if known could reduce the value of ANPR to policing. National guidelines state that, if a police force proposes to install additional ANPR cameras, an assessment must be conducted that demonstrates a clear need, taking account of the following factors:
National security and counter terrorism
Serious, organised and major crime
Local crime
Community confidence and reassurance, and crime prevention and reduction.
A chief constable is the data controller for the ANPR system operated within their force area. Requests for information or complaints should be made to that force.
Vehicle plates
While this network of surveillance technology is comprehensive, it only records vehicle number plates and is not there to capture offenders committing motoring offences.
The latest Government plans indicate that there are proposals to extend the retention period, from two to seven years, and this has prompted privacy campaigners to sound the alarm about concerns over public privacy. These concerns appear to be confirmed by the Surveillance Camera Commissioner, former senior policeman Tony Porter who was appointed by the government to keep an eye on the expanding use of CCTV, including our own industry. In his annual report he highlighted the apparent lack of regulation when it came to ANPR, adding that there is no statutory authority for the creation of the national ANPR database; its creation was never agreed by Parliament and no report on its operation has ever been laid before Parliament. Tony Porter calls for greater transparency of the system and warns police about the possibility of legal challenges to its use for mining data about private individuals which can be far more intrusive than communication intercepts. What started as a useful tool for the police around a decade ago simply to quickly check the identification of any driver by automatically matching the vehicle’s registration number with records held by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and the Motor Insurers’ Bureau has now developed into what some have described as one of the largest data gatherers of its citizens anywhere. The National ANPR Data Centre is within the Metropolitan Police Peel Centre in Hendon, north London, with the Police National Computer. It is managed by the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and all 43 police forces in England and Wales contribute to its database and have access to it, besides the Ministry of Defence, the National Crime Agency and HM Revenue & Customs.
Problems with privacy
The difficulties arise with the fact that the data base collects around 99pc of information on people who are not criminal suspects, and are never likely to be; and privacy campaigners like the human rights group Privacy International state that the system is open to abuse by the police and those who have legitimate access to the stored data. The Policing Minister Mike Penning has said that the government aims to ensure that the public can be confident that surveillance camera systems in public places are there for their personal protection and that the use of ANPR and access to the data it collects is subject to a stringent set of safeguards. The police naturally defend its deployment and describe it as a vital tool in both the prevention and the detection of crime.
Protection
The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government announced in July 2010 that ANPR was to be placed under statutory regulation and the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 was enacted to provide tighter regulation of ANPR.
A success story
One of the real success stories of ANPR monitoring has been the detection of car cloning by the police. Organised crime syndicates have targeted high value vehicles and cloned their number plates with fake plates on stolen vehicles of the same description. Illegal transgressions have led to legitimate owners being questioned over matters they have not been involved in. As there is limited monitoring of number plate manufacture, particularly websites offering these services, it becomes not too difficult to understand how easy it is for crime gangs to expose the weakness in the system. ANPR has identified multiple use of a registration number in the UK, thus proving the innocence of the legitimate owner, while enabling the police to close in on the real offender by using the ANPR national network of cameras.
The final word
In a speech to UK police chiefs in November Tony Porter warned that the only way to keep the public happy about the vast amount of information being gathered through ANPR was transparency. With market sales for ANPR systems set to double in the UK over the next five years should we be concerned about what this data could potentially be used for or take the view that if you are not an active criminal why be worried.
