U.K. mulls giving police real-time access to congestion cameras

The New York State Senate did not give its approval for placing congestion cameras in mid-Manhattan (the purpose would be to collect money from drivers who insist on driving their cars to lower Manhattan, rather than using public transportation), but in London such cameras have been around for more than a year. Now, a U.K. Home Office document accidentally released suggests police should be given instant access to cameras which monitor congestion and road charging. It comes after antiterror officers were given real time access to congestion charge cameras in London. Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs immediately charged that the government was using the announcement as a Trojan Horse for more wide-ranging surveillance proposals.

The BBC reports that yesterday the Home Office announced that antiterror officers in London would be exempted from parts of the Data Protection Act. The Metropolitan Police previously had to apply for access to congestion charge data on a case-by-case basis. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said the change was needed to deal with the “enduring vehicle-borne terrorist threat to London.”

In a written ministerial statement, antiterror minister Tony McNulty said the scheme would be reviewed after three months to ensure personal privacy was being protected. He also said the Metropolitan Police will have to produce an annual report for the government’s data protection watchdog, the Information Commissioner. The accidentally released internal documents, however, contain details of a more wide-ranging plan to track journeys throughout England and Wales. Thus, an annotated draft of McNulty’s statement reveals the development of the scheme during the past few months and the opposition mounted by the Department for Transport. Indeed, the the electronic document reveals that civil servants rated the controversy level of the plan as “high.” The “high” mark was given to the proposal because of anticipated opposition to the plan from both privacy advocates and the Ministry of Transportation.

A Home Office spokesman responded forcefully: “The experience of the last few weeks has shown that this is a necessary tool to combat the threat of alleged vehicle-born terrorism…. We will develop proposals to be discussed across government to ensure that bulk Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) data-sharing with the police is subject to a robust regulatory framework which ensures public openness.”

-read more in Richard Ford’s report in the London Times