Minority Report - British style!

People (ok, me!) complain about the erosion of civil rights in the United States but at least there is a debate. Britain is a different question - I was floored by the following:

Britain is to become the first country in the world where the movements of all vehicles on the roads are recorded. A new national surveillance system will hold the records for at least two years. Using a network of cameras that can automatically read every passing number plate, the plan is to build a huge database of vehicle movements so that the police and security services can analyse any journey a driver has made over several years. The network will incorporate thousands of existing CCTV cameras which are being converted to read number plates automatically night and day to provide 24/7 coverage of all motorways and main roads, as well as towns, cities, ports and petrol-station forecourts.

The theory is that this will be used to track criminals and, yes, terrorists. And speeders. And people who drive too slow in the fast lane!

via jwz