Fears over database of 50 million car journeys

Civil liberties campaigners expressed alarm today that millions of car journeys are to be kept on a national database for five years.

Around 10 million journeys a day are being recorded using automatic-number plate recognition, but this is set to rise to 50 million. It will be collated at a new national data centre in Hendon for use by police. The original period for holding the data was two years, but the Home Office has confirmed that it was now being kept for five years. The disclosure came after a freedom of information request by The Guardian. The paper has also obtained a strategy document advising officers to "fully and strategically exploit" the data gathered.