UK ANPR: "Innocent People Have Nothing To Fear"

I think one should distinguish between instant use of the ANPR system, and retention of the records. Instant use is -- more or less -- defensible. If the police use ANPR to find stolen vehicles, or to do a plate search for a vehicle last seeing fleeing a murder scene or abducting a child, then that's reasonable. It's no different than a dragnet search by uniformed officers, except that it's much quicker, far cheaper, and less dangerous to the officers involved. The real problem is in the retention of driving records for two years. That is an invitation to abuses of power by the police, by the Home Office, by anyone who wants to grind an axe. Stalking anti-war protesters is only the tip of the iceberg. Consider any behaviour that might be legal but morally ambiguous, and a government tracking database becomes a weapon of blackmail. Retaining records for more than 48 hours (a sufficient time to trace a vehicle driven by an actual criminal suspect) should be illegal.

One of these days, and it won't be long, one too many government agents will visit me, and he'll be gone. I don't celebrate independence day anymore, because we haven't lived in a FREE country for years. I don't salute the flag, or respect the law or the cops anymore. We are just prisoners and sources of revenue to them.

“Innocent People Have Nothing To Fear” but how do you know you got nothing to fear? The BBC are masters at propaganda; very subtle nothing you can put your finger on but ruinous to anyone who steps out of line. Jack doing a terrified 5mph under a constantly-changing speed limit you mean Victoria, Australia