A HUGE driving law change might leave millions of Brits forced to hand over private information.
A new Bill proposed by Labour will share every driver’s personal information from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) with the police.
A new Bill will allow cops to access all the DVLAs data[/caption]
There are fears photographs on driving licences will be used for a large facial recognition database[/caption]
The database would allow cops to cross reference footage with the 50million people with driving licences[/caption]
Privacy campaign groups raised concerns that the government will then have access to a huge facial recognition database – expanded by driving licence photographs.
The Crime and Policing Bill will make data from 50million motorists available to use in police investigations.
This will include the names, addresses, birthdays and images of any driver with a licence or a provisional.
Civil liberties campaign group Big Brother Watch has blasted the plans claiming this will be a complete invasion of privacy and has highlighted the risks associated with facial recognition.
The senior advocacy officer at Big Brother Watch Madeleine Stone said: “It’s disturbing to see the Government is reheating the Conservatives’ abandoned plans that most threaten privacy rights, including granting all police forces access to our driving licence photos, opening the door to the creation of a massive facial recognition database.
“The Bill allows the Government to grant police officers extraordinary powers to identify and track anyone with a driving licence, at the click of a button.
“Not only would this be an unprecedented breach of privacy, but would also put innocent citizens at risk of misidentifications and injustice.”
With access to a name and corresponding image, governing bodies would be able to use facial recognition to assist with identifying individuals from footage.
It also means cops could see endorsements, convictions, and any medical information that affects driving ability.
The Tories proposed a similar Bill, allowing the police force to check CCTV retrospectively to identify suspected criminals, but they dropped it.
It disappeared after running out of time before former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak‘s snap election but has now re-entered discussions.
The policing minister at the time Chris Philp claimed it would be beneficial when tracking down those involved in serious crimes.
For suspected criminals who are not already on the force’s databases, having access to driving licences might identify murderers, rapists and violent individuals.
While this is true, and cops have made arrests using this type of technology, access to the DVLA will expand it tenfold.
In December, 540 people who were suspected of a range of crimes, from shoplifting to rape, were apprehended using these systems.
DVLA client information would add 50milion users to this database, allowing it to be far more accurate and phenomenally wide-reaching.
Currently, cops are not allowed to access any of the DVLA’s data unless they’re looking into a road-related offence.
If the Bill gets passed, the data can be used to assist with any investigation – whether it’s car-related or not.
Facial recognition fears are growing as Big Brother Watch released a report in February 2022 stating the UK is one of the most surveilled countries in the world.
With an estimated 6million CCTV cameras across the nation, the report suggests there is one camera for every 10 citizens.
In the report, the campaign group writes: “London has become the most surveilled city outside of China, and has even more cameras per person than Beijing.”
If the Bill passes, footage from these cameras – provided they are government-owned, submitted to the police, or requested – can be cross-checked with every UK driving licence.
The Home Office has denied the Bill will be used in this way and claims if it goes through it will be used in relation to policing.
It has not detailed how the information from DVLA would be used but claims facial recognition wouldn’t be impacted.
The Home Office states: “The Secretary of State may in accordance with this section make driver licensing information available for use by authorised persons for purposes relating to policing or law enforcement.”
