Madam, - It was with great dismay and a sense of foreboding that I read of the Garda acquiring 50 automatic number plate scanners (Motoring, May 9th).
On the face of it, the ability to read number-plates to check for stolen vehicles sounds perfectly reasonable and if that were the only use to which they were ever put, then so be it. However, to fulfil this role they will need to be linked to a database against which the recorded numbers can be checked. This, of curse, will create a record of all vehicle movements in the section of road covered by the cameras and if 50 or more of these devices are linked then a very oppressive regime of journey tracking will be established. To many people this will constitute a gross violation of their privacy.
It may be that this misdirected deployment of technology is just what most Irish citizens are hungry for, but before full-scale support for the scheme is granted some pertinent questions need answering. First of all, what safeguards will there be to ensure that the function of the cameras does not creep into other areas of law enforcement or revenue-raising? Who will have access to the records of people's whereabouts and what measures will be taken to ensure the security of the information obtained? Have considerations of privacy been considered and what conclusions were reached?
It is always the case that when technology is brought to bear upon the field of policing and security the biggest winners are the suppliers of the equipment and software. To the IT companies this sort of thing is nothing more than a sales opportunity and neither human rights nor even dignity are to be allowed to interfere with their profits. It is up to politicians to preserve us from this electronic imprisonment by stealth. - Yours, etc,
JUSTIN ROBERTS, Lattin, Co Tipperary.
• As this is polling day, we are observing a moratorium on letters about the general election