However, he said the advisory group he chaired was concerned that extending ANPR enforcement “is not justified and there is limited evidence that it would benefit society. Therefore, its legality is questionable.” He said it exceeded ANPR’s original purpose of fighting terrorism and crime, was potentially disproportionate and raised concerns not only about its legality, but whether police and other law enforcement agencies would have access to the data. “Proportionality is a key legal concept and it is a relative concept – the greater the expected harm, the more room for interventionist tactics,” he said in his official response to Mr Khan’s ULEZ expansion plans.
Already a public backlash to the use of ANPR
“To what extent do the dangers of climate change and the COP26 response mean that the state can use whatever methods it wants in the name of combating climate change, because nothing compares to the enormity of the overall threat? This needs further democratic discussion.” He warned that there had already been a backlash against the use of ANPR to detect potential lockdown breaches and that this potential “overreach” could undermine public support for a vital crime-fighting technology. “ANPR is an established form of community surveillance,” he added. “The fact that it’s established is important – because people have grown up with it and to some extent have by now, generally, trusted its use – or at least shelter I wasn’t as worried about its misuse as some newer surveillance capability. “In this respect, ANPR is a bit like old school CCTV and given its criticality to policing and wider enforcement by a range of government agencies, we are extending its reach at risk.” Police are already testing cameras that can detect whether someone is using a mobile phone while driving – or whether passengers in a car are wearing a seat belt. As the technology progressed, Professor Sampson said: “People will still accept ANPR when it can identify the occupants of a moving vehicle, identify their children, when and where they had their flu shots, their passport and whether they have paid tax bill?” The office of the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner is an independent body at home that oversees compliance with codes for the use of cameras such as CCTV, ANPR and facial recognition and advises ministers on their legality. ANPR came to prominence in 1993 when it was deployed as part of a “Ring of Steel” network of cameras around the City of London following a series of deadly IRA attacks using vehicle bombs. It has since been rolled out across the entire motorway and arterial network with the data collected now collated into a national police ANPR database. The technology is also used to enforce congestion charging in London and many car parks.
