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Police 'to access road cameras' Police 'to access road cameras'
(about 4 hours later)
Ministers are considering a plan to allow police in England and Wales to use traffic cameras when investigating all forms of crime. Road pricing cameras could be used by police to track drivers' movements in England and Wales under new proposals.
A Home Office document released accidentally suggests police should be given instant access to cameras which monitor congestion and road charging. A Home Office document accidentally released suggests police should be given instant access to cameras which monitor congestion and road charging.
The government earlier cleared the way for Scotland Yard to see pictures from London's congestion charge cameras. It comes after anti-terror officers were given real time access to congestion charge cameras in London.
Campaign group Liberty said such measures would be "disproportionate". The Lib Dems accused the government of using that announcement as a "Trojan Horse" for more wide-ranging proposals.
Under the proposals, anti-terror officers will be exempted from parts of the Data Protection Act. The party's home affairs spokesman Nick Clegg said: "With this unintended act of open government the disingenuous attitude of ministers towards public fears about a creeping surveillance state is revealed for all to see.
They will be allowed to see the date, time and location of vehicles in real time, when previously they had to apply for access on a case-by-case basis. "Bit by bit vast computer databases are being made inter-operable and yet the government seems to be running scared of a full and public debate on the safeguards needed to make such information sharing acceptable."
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith blamed the "enduring vehicle-borne terrorist threat to London" for the change. The experience of the last few weeks has shown that this is a necessary tool to combat the threat of alleged vehicle-born terrorism Home Office spokesman
Police are believed to have used the cameras to trace the routes taken by the two Mercedes cars used in last month's alleged attempted bomb attacks in London. He added: "The government appears to be using the London cameras as a Trojan Horse to secure unprecedented access to information on car drivers' movements without full public scrutiny or debate."
But the Home Office said discussions were under way on giving police greater access to data before the discovery of the two car bombs. On Tuesday, the Home Office announced that anti-terror officers in London would be exempted from parts of the Data Protection Act.
National security The Metropolitan Police previously had to apply for access to congestion charge data on a case-by-case basis.
Under the new rules, anti-terror officers will be able to view pictures in "real time" from Transport for London's (Tfl) 1,500 cameras, which use Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology to link cars with owners' details. Opposition
But they will only be able to use the data for national security purposes and not to fight ordinary crime, the Home Office stressed. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said the change was needed to deal with the "enduring vehicle-borne terrorist threat to London".
The director of the human rights group Liberty, Shami Chakrabati, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme access to information from cameras should depend on the severity of a crime. In a written ministerial statement, anti terror minister Tony McNulty said the scheme would be reviewed after three months to ensure personal privacy was being protected.
She described the proposed use of information from cameras across the country by police as "probably disproportionate". And he said the Metropolitan Police will have to produce an annual report for the government's data protection watchdog, The Information Commissioner.
"I would want to know that more is going to be done to get the proportionality right," she added. But internal documents mistakenly circulated around Westminster by the Home Office contain details of a more wide-ranging plan to track journeys throughout England and Wales.
The Metropolitan Police will produce an annual report for the Information Commissioner, the government's data protection watchdog who oversees how material from CCTV cameras is used. An annotated draft of Mr McNulty's statement revealed the development of the scheme over the past few months and the opposition mounted by the Department for Transport.
The scheme will also be reviewed in three months' time after an interim report by Met Commissioner Sir Ian Blair. Petition fears
Congestion charge cameras form a ring around central London to enforce the £8-a-day toll. The electronic document revealed that the controversy level of the plan was rated "high" by civil servants.
Although charges are only in force at peak times, the system runs 24 hours a day, a TfL spokesman said. One Home Office official wrote: "Civil rights groups and privacy campaigners may condemn this as further evidence of an encroaching 'big brother' approach to policing and security, particularly in the light of the recent e-petition on road-pricing.
"Conversely, there may be surprise that the data collected by the congestion charge cameras is not already used for national security purposes and may lead to criticism that the matter is yet to be resolved."
The document noted that the Department for Transport had "expressed concern about the potential for adverse publicity relating to... plans for local roads pricing".
At the time, the then Transport Secretary, Douglas Alexander - now International Development Secretary - was reeling from the impact of a 1.8m strong petition against road pricing on the Downing Street website.
'Robust framework'
A Home Office spokesman hit back at claims the documents reveal a disregard for public concern over civil liberties.
"The experience of the last few weeks has shown that this is a necessary tool to combat the threat of alleged vehicle-born terrorism.
"It is right that these decisions are not taken lightly. This submission shows that the decision was subject to consideration across government.
"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.
"No decision has yet been made on whether ANPR data from third parties should be made available in this way to the police for other crime fighting purposes. Such a decision would only be taken with wider consultation."