SECURITY chiefs are demanding the right to monitor the movement of bus, train and car passengers in Scotland as part of the battle against terrorism.
MI5 wants to use live information from a new generation of swipe-card payment systems planned for buses, trams and trains, as well as automatic number-plate recognition, to plot the movement of suspects as they travel.
It argues the information co
uld be used to foil terrorist incidents such as last year's Glasgow Airport attack. But civil rights campaigners say the plan is another step towards a "surveillance society" and is open to abuse.
Currently, the security services need to make specific requests to monitor an individual, but they want to be able to watch anyone without seeking permission first.
In London, the Oyster swipe card, covering the Underground and buses, already records the details of around 17 million travellers automatically. Similar travel systems are planned across Britain, including Glasgow and Edinburgh, within five years.
If the security services get their way, details from these schemes will also be open to random checks. Plans to introduce swipe cards in Glasgow covering bus, subway or train tickets have already been mooted, and a similar scheme will come into operation with Edinburgh's new tram network.
A security source told Scotland on Sunday: "At the moment, MI5 and MI6 chiefs can demand to see the details of specific individuals using the London Transport network who are already 'flagged up' on their own computer system.
"However, they now want to be able to 'trawl' the whole travel network. By being able to access the movements of individuals, the security services will either be able to monitor a situation developing 'live' or go back through the database to establish routes and timings.
"It might not be popular, but it will be an absolute godsend for those working in the security services who are dedicated to not only catching terrorists but also trying to save lives."
The security agencies also want access to the Automatic Number Plate Recognition Scheme, a UK-wide network of 3,000 CCTV cameras.
The technology has the eventual capacity to monitor up to 50 million cars a day, including the time and date a vehicle was spotted, and its location, direction and final destination.
Tracking the movements of the public, while highly controversial, is today one of the mainstays of domestic defence policy in the United States.
Airline and train passengers are monitored, with anyone using online booking services automatically having their details logged. But other forms of information, such as details taken from 'electronic credit cards' used by motorists at toll booths on US highways, are also collated for possible future use.
If the security services' request is agreed – and many experts believe it will form a major strand of Gordon Brown's imminent new crackdown on terror – it will bring the UK into close line with the US, and could see an individual's travel details passed to security officials across the Atlantic.
MI5 and MI6 said by adopting such a strategy, they will be much better placed to prevent a repeat of incidents such as last June's Glasgow Airport attack.
Following that failed attempt, an inquiry headed by Admiral Sir Alan West, the UK's homeland security chief, revealed serious flaws in the UK's intelligence network.
It showed that, among other failings, the vehicle's driver, Kafeel Ahmed, was unknown to the authorities and had never featured on any security files.
One intelligence source said: "It became a matter of urgency that such a similar scenario would not happen again, and so the review was called to try and work out ways to prevent such recurrences."
The full article contains 614 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
