• In 2002 it was estimated that the United Kingdom was monitored by more than 4.2 million CCTV cameras, some equipped with facial recognition features. Even the Home Office does not know the exact numbers of surveillance cameras, however, because they are not operated by a central government scheme but rather by local authorities and private businesses. See this article to find out more.
  • London's Oyster card transit payment system keeps a record of each individual's travel history (although unregistered cards are permitted), while the London congestion charge scheme uses computer scanning to track vehicle plate numbers.
  • Last year the Government has proposed new measures allowing the police to collect data on all phone calls, emails, online discussions and personal internet browsing history as part of the Government's Interception Modernisation Programme. The "giant database" would include telephone numbers dialed, the websites visited and addresses to which e-mails are sent "but not the content of e-mails or telephone conversations."
  • Police in the UK hold records of 5.5 million fingerprints and more than 3.4 million DNA samples on the National DNA Database. The Government's use and storage of the information has been highly controversial. See this article to find out more.
  • In February 2009 it emerged that the government is planning a database to track and store records of all international travel into and out of the UK. The database will retain record of names, addresses, telephone numbers, seat reservations, travel itineraries and credit card details, which will be kept for up to ten years.
  • Special police units, the Forward Intelligence Teams, have conducted controversial mass surveillance of political and environmental protestors and of journalists. The information they gather has stored on the Crimint (). Despite recent legal decision deeming the police's storage of photographs of innocent people as illegal, it is still unclear what will happen to those already in the Police database. See this article to find out more.