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Infrared Cameras to Monitor Drivers in UK

Besides the speed cameras that were already stressful enough, British motorists will have one more reason to feel supervised each second at the wheel.

According to The Daily Mail, the Highways Agency installed 1090 infrared cameras on highways and main trunk roads to allow the police and MI5 track car trips across the country. The bright green cameras read the numberplates of the vehicles and record the time, date and location of the car at that moment. The data gathered from these infrared cameras is then stored for five year.

More importantly, modifications were made to lots of CCTV cameras and mobile cameras in Great Britain so that they can ready numberplates and calculate journey times and therefore, cops have live access to London’s Congestion Charge cameras. In addition, the plates can be spotted from the air and drivers' each move could be completely supervised by officers.

The Government invested £32 million in the database which is central to an  operation conducted by the Association of Chief Police Officers.

Certainly such a decision has already found its critics as it is believed to affect the privacy of the drivers. "This is the latest layer in a plan to monitor people from the second they leave their front door to the moment they return. It is being constructed in secret," claims Simon Davies of Privacy International.

The question that crosses our minds right now is: why would these cameras be necessary? Is the Government thinking this measure is likely to put the brakes on crimes like speeding, carjacking or driving under influence?

No matter the case, one things is sure: no one likes to be supervised 100 percent of his/her driving time, especially if no illegality is at stake.
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