An ACLU report based on freedom of information requests shows that US police are using automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras to film, recognize and store the time and location of motor vehicles across America. One of the report's concerns is "it is apparent that there are too few rules in place to ensure that license plate reader technology is not abused."
European countries have such rules based on the EU's Data Protection Directive (currently due to be superseded by the proposed General Data Protection Regulation) and enforced by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
In June 2011 three UK civil liberties groups – Big Brother Watch, Privacy International and No CCTV – made a joint complaint to the ICO concerning the police use of ANPR to collect data on all traffic entering and leaving the town of Royston. Yesterday the ICO delivered its ruling on this complaint: the Royston police have contravened the first and third data protection principles enshrined in the Data Protection Act.
“It is difficult to see why a small rural town such as Royston, requires cameras monitoring all traffic in and out of the town 24 hours a day," said the ICO's head of enforcement, Stephen Eckersley. "The use of ANPR cameras and other forms of surveillance must be proportionate to the problem it is trying to address."
The effect of this ruling is that the so-called 'ring of steel' camera surveillance around Royston will stop – for the time being at least. The BBC commented, "The ICO's ruling may have wider significance for the gathering of number plate data in the UK."
Nick Pickles, director of Big Brother Watch, said, "The idea that it is acceptable for the police to record the details of every car entering and leaving a small town was always ridiculous. This sends a clear message that the blanket logging of vehicle movements is not going to be within the law and it is now essential that the ICO ensures other police forces are abiding by the law."
The ICO enforcement notice says that the police must refrain from processing personal data until the Commissioner is satisfied that a privacy impact assessment "defines the pressing social need, assesses the likely effectiveness of the proposed measures in addressing this, identifies the likely impact on the private life of individuals and determines that the proposed measures are a proportionate interference after taking into account any additional safeguards that might be provided."
Because of this ruling, it is not impossible that the ring of steel might be reinstated; but it does seem unlikely. It also means that other police forces using or proposing to use blanket ANPR surveillance will need to reconsider their action. "We hope that this enforcement notice sends a clear message to all police forces, that the use of ANPR cameras needs to be fully justified before they are installed," said Eckersley.