Car parks across Britain are being fitted with ‘SwishPark’ technology, which reads and monitors number plates as they enter and leave the car parks.
The ANPR technology is currently being monitored by Paythru and
concerns about private data are being raised.
The idea of the scheme is that drivers will register a
Paythru account, so that the company can automatically charge you for the time
you spend parked. It removes the need for tickets and could even lead to
cheaper, and more time-focused, tickets and mean that British drivers could
save.
The system will also have a grace period so that new drivers can register
for an account when entering a Paythru car park, and those that don’t will
receive fines from the company.
They plan to reinforce these fines by using information from
the DVLA about who owns each license plate, and here’s where the privacy issue
comes in. Not only will the company have access to names and addresses associated
with each vehicle, but they will also be able to monitor where that car was
parked, for how long and build up a geographical profile of each driver.
Although the company have stated that they have no intention of accessing or
using that data except when in conjunction with car park charges, serious
concerns about what could happen if that information was accessed by nefarious
means.
The UK is already one of the most heavily monitored nations
in the world. You have probably heard the statistic of how often a person,
going about their normal life, will be caught on some form of CCTV. The SwishPark
technology will also mean that companies, not just the government’s own DVLA,
will be monitoring where and when drivers travel.
For example, Paythru highlighted a recent spike in car
parking activity and correlated it with the release of the newest Twilight
movie. This seems innocuous enough, but many people in the UK are already
nervous about being monitored as they go about their normal day and this will
only increase that surveillance.
3 comments:
Car parks across Britain are being fitted with ‘SwishPark’ technology, which reads and monitors number plates
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The UK is already one of the most heavily monitored nations in the world
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