• PRIVACY OVER PROFIT: Restrict the use of ANPR in the private sector
    People's privacy should be respected! Their movements should NOT be monitored by big corporations for the purpose of managing contracts and increasing profits. The use of ANPR technology and associated data analysis should be reserved for the prevention and detection crime, or the enforcement of civil laws. Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology is something most people will now be familiar with. Used correctly, it is invaluable in the fight against crime and disorder. Used incorrectly, it can be used to invade people’s privacy and boost profits for greedy companies in the private sector. The problem.... ANPR has been around for a number of years. It was designed to enable law enforcement agencies to prevent and detect crime and other offences. More recently, however, private parking companies have been using ANPR cameras to monitor breaches of contracts and worse still ‘MONITOR CAR PARK USAGE, IDENTIFY TRENDS AND PREDICT CUSTOMER BEHAVIOURS’. Let’s be very clear here; when you don’t park correctly or overstay in a private car park, you DO NOT commit a criminal or civil offence, you breach a contract with the parking provider. The use of ANPR cameras is therefore not being used to prevent and detect crime or offences as set out in legislation, instead it is enabling large companies to further increase profits by allowing them to observe our vehicle use remotely. Using ANPR to invade people’s privacy in this way is not proportionate or necessary, but IS currently legal. How it works.... ANPR cameras at the entrance of a private car park detect the number plate of a vehicle upon entry, recording the time, date and sometimes the make / model of vehicle. They also capture an image of the vehicle, as well as the occupants, if the camera is of a high quality. Another camera at the exit performs a similar function. The captured data from both cameras is compared to see if the car park user has breached the parking contract by overstaying or parking incorrectly. More worryingly, the data can be used to analyse the days, times and durations of people’s stays at the locations, or in the words of one parking company ‘MONITOR CAR PARK USAGE, IDENTIFY TRENDS AND PREDICT CUSTOMER BEHAVIOURS’. The parking companies then share this data, which includes: ‘Live car park occupancy, Heat maps of peak occupancy, Capacity and utilisation, Dwell times, Revenue, Vehicle details (make, model, colour, fuel type), Vehicle of interest alerts’. NB - If you’re wondering what the last category means, one such company refers to it as a way of knowing when ‘vehicles owned by undesirables, trouble-makers, or criminals arrive in your car park.’ Whilst that sounds like a positive thing, unlike in law enforcement, there are no rules governing which vehicles / individuals can be placed on the ‘hotlist’. They can therefore deem any vehicle, they so wish, to be a ‘vehicle of interest’ and pass that information to their client. In the case of a supermarket car park for instance, in theory, the parking provider could be alerting shop staff every time young people dressed in scruffy clothing arrive at their location. This could then give security staff an opportunity to unnecessarily follow and monitor those individuals, or ‘undesirables’ as one of the companies so eloquently calls them. Although customers are advised ANPR is used at car parks, they are not advised as to exactly HOW and WHY it is used. One company only says that parking is ‘camera’ monitored at the entrance points and is not specific as to what type of cameras are used. Ultimately, parking companies are charging their clients (shopping centres, supermarkets, local councils) for services that ONLY INCREASE PROFITS. The services do not enable laws to be enforced or crime prevented. The parking companies themselves are paid handsomely for what they offer their clients, with CEOs reportedly earning more than the Prime minister, while all they have to do is sit back and let their computer programs do the work for them. Potential consequences... The misuse of ANPR technology, in the way described, means that private companies can know when and where you are going and for how long. They can know what car you drive and in some cases, even what you look like. Whilst such companies will be keen to tell you that they look after your personal data, the past few months have seen data breaches within even the most secure organisations (police, NHS, etc.) Imagine how valuable it may be to criminals to know where you are likely to be at a given time and for how long. It’s a scary thought, but sadly not an unlikely eventuality, so long as this application of ANPR is allowed to continue.
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    Created by Andy Smith
  • Mitigate H2S impact on Toton, Nottinghamshire
    HS2 is coming and whatever your views are on the actual project, it's clear that all of us want to mitigate the impact it will have on Toton during its construction. Our campaign doesn't seek to undermine or promote HS2. We simply want HS2 to listen to residents, councillors and community groups that are asking them to ensure disruption is kept to a minimum.
    239 of 300 Signatures
    Created by Lee Fletcher
  • Changing Places Andover
    Because currently I have a 4 year old daughter with Down syndrome that now exceeds the limit on a baby changing table, therefore leaving me to either put her in danger by using the changing table, changing her on the floor which is a huge infection control risk and undignified OR change her in a pram (which she will soon outgrow) or my car?! I can’t be the only parent in this predicament.
    263 of 300 Signatures
    Created by Donna Jackson
  • Help the Arkell Grove, Upper Norwood residents
    Residents safety due to compromised site access Small community; living in residential close, with currently 12 privately owned homes and a few rented garages. 
The houses are built wall to wall, parking and access to the close is limited to one small road. A few council garages are being rented out to some of the home owners(for over 28 years); all other non-garage tenants/property owners park on the street in front of homes and or in overcrowded near by streets. The council has only just notified the garage tenants that the garage area is now identified as a site for the development of 3 storey block of 9 flats. Since there is no other access to the close other than by a small road, the increase amount of traffic, lack of parking space will have an overbearing impact. Fire engines may encounter difficulty accessing the close in the eventuality of a fire and access will be limited for most rescue services, as well as for waste and recycling bin lorries. (Cars have already been damaged by recycling lorries due to the current lack of space within the close, documented evidence for these incidents can be provided). Parking issues Note: There is no public transport in the immediate area/ the local demographic is families and retired couples. Past recorded fatalities due to congested road on Biggin Hill (situated next to Arkell Grove) have not been taken into consideration in the planning development safety survey. The removal of the garages would force its current renters (over 15 cars parked inside or outside the garages) to locate currently ‘unprovided’ parking. In addition to this, 9 flats means an average of 12 cars (calculated using Croydon’s statistics of average number of cars per inhabitants as per 2011’s census) which will also require parking. Arkell Grove itself is fully occupied by its residents’ cars. No provision has been made for any parking for the new building, to add to this, additional cars from local residents will require to locate parking in ‘unprovided’ congested adjacent roads, such as Biggin Hill. A Controlled Parking Zone would be of no help, as the area is such that only residents park here (as opposed to streets located nearby developed areas) and would be be additional cost for residents. Residents and children safety Note: as well as families, the close has two active ofsted registered childminders / home based. In this close live numerous families with very young children who use the close as a safe ground, they play and meet in the area of the proposed site. A) Having a building site in such a small and confined area would certainly present a danger to the safety of these children. (heavy lorries, and excavation) B) The new house development would remove the direct area in which family and children play and meet. Overshadowing / Loss of sunlight The height of the building is such that any house in its shadow would lose access to the sunlight they currently have. Residents Privacy The planning is talking about the development of a block of flats which would look directly over the gardens of the adjacent houses and would remove the direct access to their properties. Environment One of the adjacent gardens has a very tall and mature tree on the border of the proposed site and the development plans would compromise the roots of this tree, rendering it unstable and therefore at rick of dying and falling. Sewage issues and waste disposal All the immediate area to the proposed site privately owned, with no access to the site, how will the issue of sewage be resolved? Croydon has just announced that they are reducing waste collection in this area. Again, this could be a major health problem for this area. Questions: 1) Housing mix. The council policy states they need to built approx 30k by 2031, quote: 60% need to be 3 bedrooms or more as this is largest demand. So why so many 2 beds flats are being built? Why not build 2 storey homes? This would be a realistic target and would resolve many of the concerns raised by local residents. 2) Access to sites. How all these issues are being answered? What about the poor access to the site, the narrow roads and lanes; *Cars being required as public transport is not where it should be.. One of Croydon new policy is looking to address issues round creating additional access methods, where is this being addressed in this proposal? What about sewage and waste disposal, when croydon has just announced that they are reducing waste collection in our area…? 3) If the permission was granted, has the following been taken into consideration? Which days a week will the work be carried out? ie solid 5/6 day week or on and off some weeks? Could quieter works be done weekend? Access: Clearly only one point of access , how will this be addressed? 1. Deliveries Times (this is a very important point. Early morning when childminders get children dropped off OR over weekend when local children playing outside is not acceptable.) 2. General car congestions. Frequency of construction vehicles, What and when? initial large delivery of bricks that would block access, pavements, danger to children playing. This is all health and safety Builders need to address. Builders will need restrictions in place for them to park on road. Has this been accurately assessed? We have raised a petition to provide the list of individuals part of the local community and or relatives supporting the appeal if the development permission is granted
    164 of 200 Signatures
    Created by Sarina McCavana
  • Sack Christopher Chope
    It is common decency against a lurid, obscene practises that should be outlawed.
    858 of 1,000 Signatures
    Created by Bill Robb
  • EU Article 13 internet vote
    Articles 13 internet censership will take away our freedom even out of the EU
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    Created by Christopher Falzon
  • Cambridge Anlaytica
    This is incredibly important for the freedom of people and democracy around the world. It is difficult enough for people to make a decision of importance based on information which is provided by a Biased and propagandist media. Psychological manipulation and deliberate large scale misinformation is despicable and very dangerous. Why was a Phd professor having been asked to leave Cambridge university return after 3 years in South America , then allowed to continue at Cambridge under his new name of SPECTRE ? It beggars belief. Why was Steve Bannon involved in both BREXIT and the Trump vote Along of course with many others ......
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    Created by kevin Fitmaurice-Brown
  • SAVE OUR GREENBELT
    The Council intend to change the green belt to brown belt in a small quaint rural village at Broomhill in Barnsley. We want to stop the application to build on our green belt. The effect this will have on our village and the abundance of wild life will be catastrophic. Both residents and visitors alike enjoy the countryside that surrounds us from dog walkers, bird watchers to ramblers. Our wild life play a big part in making our village an attraction to all. The influx of traffic and housing would be devastating. We have an abundance of squirrels, rabbits, foxes, owls and bats to name a few not to mention an extremely large variety of birds. The surrounding wetlands attracts, swans, geese, ducks, coots and a variety of other wild life. To build on our green belt would be devastating to the wild life not to mention the residents who have enjoyed the peace and tranquillity of living in the countryside.
    336 of 400 Signatures
    Created by Sharon Baker
  • Stop on-the-spot fingerprint scanning
    The Home Office quietly announced, without debate in Parliament, that West Yorkshire Police will be rolling out on-the-spot fingerprint scanning on 10th Feb 2018. The checks will include UK Border Agency and Criminal Records databases. Over 30yrs ago I was fined for a minor offence and my fingerprints were recorded at the time. If I were to encounter a stop-and-scan check whilst with my boss or an important customer, they would be able to tell instantly that I had a criminal record, and even if I wasn't fired I'd be looked at unfairly for promotion. Worse still, with UK Border Agency database checks, we know that the Police will disproportionately target ethnic minorities. We have seen how incompetent the UKBA are at dealing with EU applications for permanent residency, and you can be sure that many legal EU citizens will be falsely arrested during these stops. PACE (the Police and Criminal Evidence Act) s61 currently states that the Police can only take your fingerprints without consent after you've been arrested or you're caught red-handed. However, by virtue of having these scanners the Police will intimidate people into giving consent. Please sign the petition to stop this unfair system, which hasn't even been agreed to by Parliament. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/police-trial-new-home-office-mobile-fingerprint-technology https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/60/section/61
    51 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Ken Booth
  • Save solihull's 500 yr old oak treehouse created by Treepirates
    Because; 1the tree was much bigger 2 Art and beauty must not be destroyed by beaurocracy 3 it has no roof ,it is just a platform made of wood on a remnant of a trunk of an ancient tree that has become functional art 4 council money should be spent more wisely
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    Created by Andy Doughty
  • Get the snap map banned
    It is unsafe and makes people vulnerable. It's an invasion of privacy, not only can your friends see where you are but also the creators of the app and G*d knows who else!
    42 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Tara Linkowska
  • Surnames to be removed from student nursing badges
    To protect student nurses identity and privacy in practice to ensure their welfare and safety outside of work.
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    Created by Sarah Callow