Britain’s vast camera network is being used to secretly surveil drivers, privacy experts warn

Big Brother Watch reported that U.K. number plate recognition systems are recording vehicles at an unprecedented rate, warning that police have been given access to this data and raising significant concerns about personal privacy and civil rights.

The use of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) in the U.K. is now reportedly producing mass surveillance on a truly massive scale – cameras are capturing number plates close to 44.5 times per second.

That translates to more than one billion times a year, privacy and civil rights group Big Brother found out via freedom of information act (FOIA) requests, that concerned eight local or regional authorities.

This makes for “one of the biggest surveillance networks in the world,” is how the group summed up the situation.

🎥Number plate recognition cameras run by local authorities enforcing green driving schemes are capturing cars more than a billion times a year, according to our own analysis.

More than 110 million entries a month were recorded by just eight local or regional authorities Clean… pic.twitter.com/jbGB8Ep026

— Big Brother Watch (@BigBrotherWatch) November 5, 2024

APNRs are there to enforce green driving schemes (Clean Air Zones, CAZ; in London, this is known as the Ultra Low Emission Zone, ULEZ) by deploying mass surveillance and collecting data on drivers that can be retained for up to a year.

And this comes on top of the police capturing number plates for their own purposes, said to be happening billions of times per year.

The declared reason for the use and proliferation of surveillance cameras in these ULEZ-like schemes is to control how much emissions drivers are allowed to create. The authorities have the right to charge penalties – but in thousands upon thousands of cases, reports say this is based on erroneous data.

According to Big Brother Watch, Birmingham City Council had struck a secretive, and apparently ongoing, deal with West Midlands Police before the 2022 Commonwealth Games which let the police access the council’s ANPR network.

The response to this FOIA request, however, did not specify how much data was given to law enforcement thanks to this agreement, which the privacy advocates say, provided “unfettered access to number plate data.”

Meanwhile, Transport for London (TfL) data captured from 163.2 vehicles driving past its live CCTV cameras was requested by the Metropolitan Police between August 2023 and June 2024.

“Millions of innocent people’s car journeys are captured by automated cameras every day and this level of surveillance is a threat to everyone’s privacy,” warned Big Brother Watch Head of Research and Investigations Jake Hurfurt.

Reprinted with permission from Reclaim The Net.

Related Topics:#DidiRankovic #LifeSiteNews BigBrotherWatch MassSurveillance UKPlateRecognitionCameras UKTrafficCameras

Up Next

Even before taking office, Trump puts Mexico on spot — stop the caravans now

Don't Miss

Look Who’s Back & Who Now Controls The Social Media Pulpit

Todayville

Todayville is a digital media and technology company. We profile unique stories and events in our community. Register and promote your community event for free.

Follow Author

Emissions Reduction Alberta offering financial boost for the next transformative drilling idea

armed forces / 2 hours ago

Global Military Industrial Complex Has Never Had It So Good, New Report Finds

International / 2 hours ago

Atlantic hurricane season is 8th this century with no landfalls

armed forces

Global Military Industrial Complex Has Never Had It So Good, New Report Finds

Published on December 1, 2025

Todayville

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Wallace White

The global war business scored record revenues in 2024 amid multiple protracted proxy conflicts across the world, according to a new industry analysis released on Monday.

The top 100 arms manufacturers in the world raked in $679 billion in revenue in 2024, up 5.9% from the year prior, according to a new Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) study. The figure marks the highest ever revenue for manufacturers recorded by SIPRI as the group credits major conflicts for supplying the large appetite for arms around the world.

“The rise in the total arms revenues of the Top 100 in 2024 was mostly due to overall increases in the arms revenues of companies based in Europe and the United States,” SIPRI said in their report. “There were year-on-year increases in all the geographical areas covered by the ranking apart from Asia and Oceania, which saw a slight decrease, largely as a result of a notable drop in the total arms revenues of Chinese companies.”

Notably, Chinese arms manufacturers saw a large drop in reported revenues, declining 10% from 2023 to 2024, according to SIPRI. Just off China’s shores, Japan’s arms industry saw the largest single year-over-year increase in revenue of all regions measured, jumping 40% from 2023 to 2024.

American companies dominate the top of the list, which measures individual companies’ revenue, with Lockheed Martin taking the top spot with $64,650,000,000 of arms revenue in 2024, according to the report. Raytheon Technologies, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems follow shortly after in revenue,

The Czechoslovak Group recorded the single largest jump in year-on-year revenue from 2023 to 2024, increasing its haul by 193%, according to SIPRI. The increase is largely driven by their crucial role in supplying arms and ammunition to Ukraine.

The Pentagon contracted one of the group’s subsidiaries in August to build a new ammo plant in the U.S. to replenish artillery shell stockpiles drained by U.S. aid to Ukraine.

“In 2024 the growing demand for military equipment around the world, primarily linked to rising geopolitical tensions, accelerated the increase in total Top 100 arms revenues seen in 2023,” the report reads. “More than three quarters of companies in the Top 100 (77 companies) increased their arms revenues in 2024, with 42 reporting at least double-digit percentage growth.”

International

Atlantic hurricane season is 8th this century with no landfalls

Published on December 1, 2025

Todayville

From The Center Square

By Alan Wooten

Nothing like Helene, and nothing like three hurricanes making landfall in 66 days.

Sunday’s end to the hurricane season for the Atlantic Basin was welcomed from the Gulf states to the Atlantic seaboard, with gratitude not a single one made landfall in the United States. A year ago, Hurricane Helene was among the three in just over two months that arrived in Florida, and its destruction was most heavily felt in North Carolina with 108 deaths and an estimated $60 billion to $80 billion in damages.

This is the 62nd week of recovery from Helene.

“That was a much-needed break,” said Dr, Neil Jacobs, under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration administrator. “Still, a tropical storm caused damage and casualties in the Carolinas, distant hurricanes created rough ocean waters that caused property damage along the East Coast, and neighboring countries experienced direct hits from hurricanes.”

This is the eighth year this century with no hurricane landfalls in the Atlantic season. The previous years were 2000, 2001, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2015.

Thirteen storms reached a level to be named, five escalated to Category 1 (sustained winds of 74 mph or greater) and four of those eclipsed Category 3 (sustained winds 111 mph or greater).

Hurricanes Humberto and Imelda on Sept. 30 drew as close as 450 to 600 miles apart in the Atlantic Ocean, churning up the surf along much of the East Coast and drawing a warning for storm surge between Florida and South Carolina. Imelda ultimately was drawn toward and followed Humberto out to sea, enabling the Carolinas to avert catastrophe.

Erin, however, was a different story. Once a Category 5 (sustained winds 157 mph or greater) in the ocean, the storm temporarily shuttered four ferries in North Carolina and closed the 148-mile famed N.C. 12.

Tropical Storm Barry in June was the closest threat to Gulf Coast states. Imelda was the closest threat to Florida.

In Florida in 2024, Debby made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane near Steinhatchee on Aug. 5, Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in Dekle Beach on Sept. 26, and Milton made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane near Siesta Key on Oct. 9.

The 2024 season had 18 named storms, 11 reaching at least Category 1 hurricane level, and five of those accorded major hurricane level (Category 3 or worse).