First, it was radar guns. Next came red light cameras, which took a photo both of your face and your license plate numbers. And now, surveillance vendors are promoting an American “homeland security” system that would track you, wherever you drive.
If you think this technology is a pipe dream, think again. It exists now, and will soon arrive in the United States.
You can thank the United Kingdom for pioneering this system. When fully implemented next year, the U.K.’s Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system will track nearly 500,000 vehicles daily through police cameras and CCTV systems. As you drive between major cities and (especially) into a major metropolitan area, your license plate will be scanned and your identity matched against various U.K. databases.
Should you be driving a “vehicle of interest,” it will be easy for police to detain and possibly arrest you. And since the results will be archived for five years, investigators can subsequently trawl the database of billions of vehicle journeys for whatever purposes are deemed necessary.
Such a system already exists in London, where it was installed to reduce traffic congestion. Now, proponents justify it as a measure to fight terrorism, child pornography, and narcotics trafficking.
In the United States, leading photo enforcement providers are promoting a similar program as a way for police to solve missing persons cases and reclaim stolen cars. But behind the scenes, they’re advocating a much more ambitious network with capabilities that would equal or even exceed those being developed in the United Kingdom.
The potential for abuse is obvious. And you don’t need to look far to find it. In Canada, a police sergeant in Edmonton, Alberta decided to track the whereabouts of a journalist who had criticized the city’s photo radar operation. Police followed the critic to a local bar, hoping to arrest him for driving under the influence of alcohol. Unfortunately for police, the journalist took a taxi home. Shortly thereafter, the plan became public knowledge after someone inside the police department leaked tapes of radio traffic to the press.
What politician might be silenced after the license numbers of both he and an alleged mistress are found at the same hotel? What civil libertarian will feel compelled to stay at home rather than risk harassment by police if he drives his vehicle to a political rally? The prospects for continued abuses are real, and growing rapidly.
One thing’s for sure. Big Brother has literally taken to the roads. If you want transportation privacy in this brave new world, buy a bicycle—or a good pair of hiking boots.
Copyright © 2008 by Mark Nestmann
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