Persecution or protection? Understanding the differential public response to two road-based surveillance systems

Abstract

Over the past decade, drivers in the UK have become subject to increasing amounts of surveillance as they go about their daily activities. Both speed cameras and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems watch over ever-expanding portions of the road network with a view to the identification of motor vehicles being used in an illegal manner, potentially leading to the offending individual being traced and punished and the protection of ‘law-abiding’ road users. Both technologies also generate large volumes of data which could be used to increase the State’s knowledge about our movements. As such, the two systems have many similarities. However, the public reception of the two technologies has shown marked differences. This article combines the findings of two separate research projects, one of which focused on speed cameras and the other on ANPR, but both of which included an exploration of the surveillance experience of UK drivers. The findings suggest that, while both forms of surveillance have their supporters and opponents, the ways in which these positions are justified show some significant difference. It is proposed that this can be explained in terms of differences in the ‘criminal’ nature of the populations who constitute their respective behavioural foci, along with strategies adopted in the marketing of the two systems. Drivers, as a result, occupy a complex role which veers between the dominance of the identities of offender and victim, alternatively protected by and problematized by state surveillance of their activities which increasingly intrudes into their lives.