Big Brother is watching you... 400,000,000 times a year
Scots ‘among most spied on in world’, say campaigners
POLICE cameras are capturing more than a million pictures a day of drivers in Scotland, making the country’s motorists among ‘the most spied on in the world’.
Astonishing new figures highlight the expanding scale and extent of the surveillance network monitoring our roads.
Police Scotland cameras shot and stored 400 million images last year – a rise of 70 per cent on the total two years ago – official statistics show.
Cameras in the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system have been deployed at hundreds of locations across the country, recording licence plates and photos of every vehicle driving past.
A total of 416,631,778 ‘read records’ were obtained last year alone by Police Scotland, with the number sparking claims by a leading privacy campaign group that motorists here are subject to a ‘network of secretive checkpoints’.
In addition to the vast number of images from 2021, which equates to more than 150 for every vehicle in Scotland, millions more records are retained from previous years despite guidance the images should not be held for more than 12 months.
The number of records held is up 70 per cent on the 245 million stored in December 2020, while the number of cameras, which were initially only on motorways, rose by a quarter last year to 230, with a host of trunk roads now covered. Big Brother
‘The SNP’s track record on civil liberties is not good’
Watch director Silkie Carlo said: ‘These shocking statistics raise serious questions about why the collection and storage of innocent Scots’ movements seems to be growing exponentially.
‘Scottish motorists are among the most spied on in the world and people deserve answers as to why.
‘The ANPR network is one of the largest non-military surveillance networks in the UK that captures millions of photos of innocent citizens every day.
‘It’s a network of secretive national checkpoints that has escaped scrutiny for too long.’
Police refuse to reveal the location of the cameras while their exact capabilities are shrouded in secrecy, but it is understood they take a picture of the number plate and driver of all vehicles that pass. Police say this helps them track terrorists and other criminals.
We revealed in 2018 how a new generation of cameras was being installed with unprecedented surveillance capabilities.
A dedicated team of officers was set up to harness the technology to fight crime but concerns have been raised over data retention and the fact most images are of law-abiding drivers.
There is no law governing the use of ANPR technology in Scotland, which is also used by the quango Transport Scotland for traffic management. Home Office guidance covering the UK states ANPR read records must be deleted 12 months after capture, unless retained for specific crime-fighting reasons.
But more than a million images held by Police Scotland date back to 2019 and 2020.
One officer told us the images are ‘far superior’ to previous ones and the technology helps them track vehicles of interest. They added: ‘Policing is increasingly about intelligence and technology and trying to stay ahead of the game.’
The Liberal Democrats conducted research on the cameras in 2016 and hit out at the ‘gargantuan amount of data’ held on ‘innocent motorists’. Police later deleted millions of records but the number has spiked again.
Scottish Lib Dem justice spokesman Liam McArthur said: ‘Police Scotland seem to be slipping back into bad old habits. Unfortunately, the SNP’s record on protecting civil liberties is not good. That’s why we will continue to stand firmly on the side of restoring these liberties.’
Jamie Greene, the Scottish Conservative justice spokesman, said: ‘These cameras can play an important role in detecting crime, but the public will be concerned at their ever-increasing use.
‘Innocent motorists will wonder how their data is being stored. Police Scotland should be upfront about the reasons behind additional cameras and why there is a need to store the data for years. In light of these figures, the public will be keen to be reassured the use of ANPR remains appropriate.’
Chief Inspector Jennifer Thornton, of Police Scotland, said: ‘ANPR helps detect, deter and disrupt criminality, including organised crime groups and terrorists.
‘It is also a useful tool in tracking down stolen vehicles and in helping to trace those who have been reported missing.’