Spy Blog - SpyBlog.org.uk

i go 2 a petrol station 2 buy fuel NOT 2 get a criminal check done on me,
as 2 whether or not i'm a good payer of my depts or not.
TWO ME THIS IS DISCRIMINATION OF CUSTOMER CARACHTER....

Buy a dictionary whilst you are there too.

Have you ever seen a dictionary for sale at a petrol station, or even at a supermarket ?

We tend to make a few typing errors, which we do try to correct, if people are kind enough to point them out politely.

www.dictionary.com can be useful or just the consensus gleaned from search engines (which also tend to show common misspellings, which may actually find their way into the language one day e.g. "teh"

Actually yes, I have seen dictionaries available. And if not there are always schools & colleges for learning grammar and spelling. But other than that I agree whole-heartedly - I don't want to be "assessed" when buying petrol, I just want the petrol. Where did all those small stations that don't have this tehnology go?.... oh yes, the supermarkets put them out of business!!

if u have nothing to hide . why worry.only people with criminal minds have problems like these. I do not have a problem with my being recored except when I'am sexsing.

@ "charli" - there are lots of completely legal and normal reasons, including personal and family safety and security, not to allow a commercial company like a supermarket or even the Local Council to be able to track vehicle movements e.g. the times, dates and locations and not to be able to use the DVLA or the PNC to look up the home addresses of the registered keepers' of vehicles.

You are perfectly entitled not to care about your own privacy, but you have no right to impose on the privacy of other people, without their express, informed consent.

It's the same old story - bleating civil liberty whingers. Look, if someone wants to do business with me I check out their payment history as does any sensible company that wishes to remain in business. This is no different as the people entering the petrol station want to do business with Sainsbury and Sainsbury, quite understandably, don't want to get ripped off by some chancer. Registration recognition is operated all over the country in industrial estates, towns and around 'sensitive' areas. You have no idea just how many times you are seen in a single day. It's too late guys - the horse has bolted so stop whinging and accept it. If you've done nothing wrong, and plan to keep it that way, you have nothing to worry about. GROW UP!

...Oh, and Alan spelling the word 'discrimination' correctly when he couldn't spell 'to' just about sums it all up! Ignorance breeds paranoia methinks.

If there are proper safeguards restricting the use of this intrusive tracking technology to known criminals or suspected "drive off" petrol thieves, that would probably be acceptable to most people.

However if, as we suspect, there are no proper safeguards in place to prevent the abuse of personal tracking information being gathered and retained without the explicit individual consent of the vast majority of innocent customers, for "junk mail" marketing or other nefarious purposes, that is both morally wrong and is also illegal.

Just because there is widespread abuse of privacy does not make it a tolerable situation, especially when there is so little actual reduction in crime to show for it.

"Kimo" may be willing to accept such abuses, and may be naive enough to trust the good intentions of the operators of such systems, but we certainly are not.

Why is there a problem with filling up a car and driving off? If the cashier turns the pump on
without first requesting payment then surely no payment is required, and the petrol must be some kind of gift.
The police should not waste their time on these cases and concentrate on real crime.
The solution rests with the oil companies who so far have refused to invest in proper technology for a pre-pay system.

Kimo will have no problem with a rogue employee checking his home address and his car type, and then having masked individuals turn up rip the keys out of his hand one dark night, speed off (maybe with his child in the back of the car?) and re-plate the car with someone else's number on a similar coloured/model car (that they also got from the records that they were party to and sold on to a criminal gang).

NB This is an adaptation of a true story that happened to my family - not a supermarket employee this time, but a rogue employee of a main dealership! Beware - civil liberty should be protected and tested every step of the way.

In principle, good idea. In practice, will have to be very carefully implemented.

Those of you who feel so violated because you are being monitored should remember, these petrol stations are all sign posted that they use ANPR, so its no surprise, you have a choice. If you want fuel from this venue you accept the terms, ie, being recorded, if you dont want to accept those terms, go to a petrol station that doesnt use ANPR and your perceived civil rights will be intact. It is nothing more than a condition of sale at these venues - your choice is either to accept it or take your money elsewhere.

Rob, you miss the point about anpr recording at garages.Our gripe is about whats happening with the data. Is it being destroyed or is it passed onto government agencies who snoop.

I suggest you ask them what they do with the data/video and who has access to it. This ofcourse exludes those who fill up and ride off without paying.they get their just reward if captured.

Emma,when you go into any shop/supermarket do you pay for your goods first? No,in a supermarket you load your shopping into a trolley.Do you then walk out through the door avoiding the checkout? No.Why not? This is surely a gift as you assume petrol is just because you dont pay first.Just how dumb are you?

I got hit by another driver today, he drove off, left my car in a total mess. I got his number plate. is there any site i can check this on?

Just to pass comment on the statement about the petrol stations being sign posted about ANPR and thus freedom of choice, the ones that I have observed you have to drive past the camera to read the sign. It would be better to be able to make the choice prior to being "recognised", publicising where these are would be a good move too.

This is a big issue for survivors of domestic violence for whom being tracked would mean injury and or death. There does not seem to be any guarantee that the information could not be retrieved by a potential abuser, whether by direct hacking into the system or by chatting up the data administrator....positions of power are attractive to those who perpetrate this type of crime.

me tinks Alan has dun a bunk from a peterol station in de past bcause of V way he rights. not been prejudice or n-y-thing. right?

I may be able to shed some light on the ins and out of ANPR within petrol stations. Most major supermarkets use ANPR not just Sainsburys. Only because of the false signs did Sainsburys come into the media. I have been involved with the operation and running of a Petrol ANPR system for the past 3 years. This is how it works.
1. The system does not pick up registrations as you pass a camera.
2. Depending on the size of the forecourt 3-4 cameras are used of the pan/tilt/zoom type.
3. As the customer lifts the pump to dispense fuel one of the cameras will activate and zoom the the registration.
4. This registration is then checked against a database held on THAT SITE only for previous non payment of fuel.
5. If the Reg is on the database the pump will not allow any fuel to be dispensed.
6. The same camera then moves to capture the image of the person dispensing the fuel.
7. If no reg is on the database fuel is dispensed.
8. Every customer is checked in this way.
Ok that is how most petrol ANPR systems are used. Now the use of the information. The system is covered by data protection act with respects to access to the information by authorised personnel only. (usually a senior Security manager).No other people can gain access. Access to the system is logged for audit purposes.
General information is stored for 6 months and information relating to criminal activity minimum 12 months.
The system is mainly used to combat petrol theft e.g. A first time thief not listed on the database will have their reg and picture taken. These can then be passed to the police. A second time offender will not recieve petrol in the first place.
It is also used to combat credit card fraud. The police can sometimes be months behind once they get the details from the banks of the fraud. I can easily track a credit card number on a different system to give me a date/time/amount/pump number then key that info into the ANPR to get a nice little still of the offender and the car reg.(imagine how much better that little old lady who had her credit card stolen during a violent mugging feels now that the police have so mush more to go on.)
The system is used for nothing more. I can get details of registrations and people driving cars but not home addresses as some people think or check if a customer has a criminal record. As long as people pay for their petrol I have no problems. The information is not passed on to any other agencies or my companies marketing department. I only pass on information regarding criminal activity directly linked to the pertol station and that information goes directly to the police.

I agree that a dodgy person could gather this info and try to do naughty things with it, that is why an audit trail is available and audited. In any proffession you can get dodgy people. i have heard of police officers using PNC to get personal details on the hot babe they just drove past.

I hope this may have answered some questions any more are welcomed at my email.
baldfist@hotmail.com

I work in a petrol station and it is very frustrating and unfair to be blamed for customers who pump and drive off especially when it is very busy and you are not able to get the reg. no. of the car. If a better system is put in place we as cashiers will enjoy our jobs without being blamed for something that is not our fault by managers who are not even present at the station and do not know exactly how frustrating it is.
A better security system is definitely needed.

I think the whole debate on ANPR and cameras is pathetic, we are giving away more and more rights out of stupity and fear. if this is to catch petrol cheats, just bring in a system where you have to insert your visa or credit card into the pump first to activate it etc. Problem solved lol.