Police are planning to store data captured by a proposed
national automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) camera network
for at least two years.
The government last year announced plans to develop a national
network of thousands of cameras that can automatically scan car
number plates and check them against police databases.
If a passing car was linked to a reported crime, police would be
able to act.
Now the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) has said it
plans to collect the data in a searchable database that can be used
in police investigations for at least two years.
Acpo says there may also be a case for keeping some of the data
for over two years.
This possibility is believed to be linked to the tracking of
what police view as career criminals, who are expected to commit
crimes in the future. The extended availability of this information
would provide extra intelligence to the police.
The government said the Acpo recommendations complied with the
European Convention for Human Rights, data protection laws, the
Regulatory Investigative Powers Act 2000, and the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.
The police are currently involved in a £15m pilot of the
technology. A national intelligence centre is being considered to
fully analyse data collected, if the technology is rolled out
nationally.