Has anyone seen those CCTV cars that drive around the streets...?

[Mr Tripod]

filming everything? they are not the police force or a governmental agency..they are private companies.
I was at a red traffic light the other day and one of these things pulled up next to me and trained his camera on me sitting in my car! I was only going to the shops!!!! WTF???
I'm a tax paying, never been arrested, pleasant member of the community and some goon is sticking a camera in my face??
Am i entitled to give him the V's......what could potentially happen?

 

[Andrew.McEwan]

I have seen the Police CCTV vans however ive never seen a Private CCTV. What area are they in? you should stop them and ask what there purpose for filming you is and if the get mouthy demand a copy of the tape under the Data Protection Act.

saying that it may not be filming everyone.... Mrs Tripod might think your cheating on her and you got a very Overt Surveilance team on ya.... hahahaha...Joke^^

 

[jameson]

just a quick note,

i have seen vans driving around with cameras on each corner of the roof but these vans are working with the dvla to catch untaxed vehicles on the road.

sometimes they are marked, othertimes not and i've generally seen them in and around london.

 

[charlie taters]

There's a series on the tv at the moment about these vans, some are operated by a private baliff company called jw for jamie waller.
They drive around the streets watching for vehicles who evade parking tickets.

The camera use the automatic vehicle identification system that ties in with the local authority database. When they see a car with outstanding tickets they clamp it and remove it to recover the outstanding fees.

 

[VIP BG]

I say we blow them up!

Whose in?

 

[zatoichi]

These vehicles are probally ANPR, look up this . Number plate scanning basically for Garmin, GPS, local Gov, tax evasion and debt collection. Most ANPR is out of date as soon as it hits the streets but it is the lastest weapon they want ti use.

 

[co19]

These vehicles are run by private companies like PWL on behalf of police forces, alot of the time its for anti-social behaviour evidence. They do work very closely with police forces like Greater Manchester and the Metropolitan.

It probably isn't ANPR...ANPR by the way is not out of date as it can be programmed with the relevant info for the role thay are involved in, I used to take part in numerous anti-terorism operations and Op Trident (black on black) operations with ANPR and we got some good results.

 

[zatoichi]

Sh%t our ANPR is always out of date, lazy van operators. Met pol is usually top notch.

 

[kensplace]

No signs on the vehicles stating who the data controller for the cctv was?

 

[eddyedwards41]

Googl earth street view

It’s been in the papers and on the news

 

[Reed11B]

Darn, some one beat me too it. $100 says it belongs to google. HMMM wonder how many pounds that is......
Reed

 

[nathans]

I think street view is a fair shout. If it had a large dome like camera.There was a piece on the news about local residents blocking there street. As they thought it could be used by potential no gooders to appreciate routes etc. Also in London around sensitive locations.
?

 

[annie]

But are we sure that you haven't started acting oddly, you know wearing jeans that are a smidge too tight, leather jacket? Just undoing one more button on your shirt to give the ladies a peek at your manly love rug with a gold medallion nestled in it? Bought a new flash car? Waxing your nether regions and the like, i mean it doesn't take much to get a woman suspicious

Or it could be something far less sinister i suppose, but it is after the watershed and it humors me to think of you trying to clone yourself as David Hasselhoff

 

[kensplace]

They should have the google logo on the front doors if its a street view car.

 

[MatthewB]

Googl earth street view

It’s been in the papers and on the news

If it is a Google earth car they look like this

El Reg net closes on Street View fleet ? The Register

I heard (probably rubbish though) they are currently being investigated by the Information Commissioner's Office about a breach of privacy.
Google say they are looking at technology which will block peoples faces in these pics and if you go onto the site you can click a link to have yourself or your house removed.
One guy kicked off after being caught on camera coming out of a sex shop!

 

[scotti653]

i agree with co19, ANPR is the new intel tool for police, (not new actually but a far more cost effective way to target criminals, next step to getting rid of real police, but thats another topic) and they are everywhere. some static and permanent, some mobile and manned. The data is very much up to date, all you car info is now held centrally, MOT, Insurance etc.

Stay safe

 

[kensplace]

Apparently Greater Manchester police now have cctv cars parked up recording people driving past to see if they are committing any driving offences (using a mobile etc)

BBC NEWS | England | Manchester | CCTV cars snap distracted drivers

Not that sure about the legal aspect of this, as when asked what would happen to the dvd of the reported, they replied it would go into a locked police store room and not be seen by anyone else unless it was needed for a court appearance.

Why on earth would they need to keep the footage of people who were *not* committing driving offences in a police store room?

And for just how long would it be kept, forever by the looks of things as they did not specify a timeframe...

Do DPA rules on evidence storage etc etc not apply to the police....