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> Because of how effective this is for catching even fairly minor violations like failure to pay road tax,

The main use of those cameras is to deter not paying road tax and not having insurance, and to spot stolen and wanted cars.

It's not a problem if all number plates are stored for some time but it requires strict rules (duration of storage and access to data), which the document you linked to describes.

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> > even fairly minor violations like failure to pay road tax

> The main use of those cameras is to deter not paying road tax

No-one has paid a road tax in the United Kingdom since 1937. Vehicle excise duty is (currently) based on CO2 emissions (which is why EVs are subject to a £0 VED) and has always gone directly into a general government fund -- it does not maintain the roads. Of course the government could choose to spend some of that money on road upkeep, but they don't have to.

"Road tax" is a widespread colloquial term, and that tax must be paid to be able to drive on public roads. So let's not lose ourselves in nitpicks, it brings nothing to the discussion at hand...

You’re absolutely right, I’ve edited my comment to say vehicle tax rather than road tax. It’s actually one of my personal bugbears as well, so I can’t believe that I said that.

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