What can TV Licence people actually see?

coupleuk

NOTE: this is a fun but serious post (honest)......

I was just reading a thread about people with no TV and therefore no need for a TV Licence.

I understand that the TV Licence Vans now have much more sophisticated scanners which will show what programme (if any) is actually showing on a TV in a house/flat several metres away.

So, what technology do they use fot it?

And here's the puzzler :eek: .........

What else can they see you watching?

Does their scanner pic up signals on computers/laptops etc and they are having a good laugh at your choice of !!!!!! that evening.

:rotfl:

Thinking about it more, you wouldnt even need to be watching !!!!!! on the laptop - what about that "special home movie" you and your partner decide to watch on the TV one evening? - maybe a few will enjoy the thought of the TV man snooping from his little van.

On a more serious note, there must be some "invasion of privacy" issues in this whole scanning thing.


PS if anyone is worried about this issue, personal DVDs and Video Cassettes can be sent to me at ....... LOL

HappyMJ

All they have is a database listing addresses and whether or not they are licensed. That's it.

BLT_2

You really need to do something about that guilty conscience :-)

moonrakerz

TV Licensing may have vans, they MAY (possibly !) have some kind of equipment in them, however they have NEVER placed evidence from these so called detector vans before a Court.

Firstly, this sort of evidence is believed to be classed as "covert surveillance" (as is telephone tapping) and can only be authorised at high level. Which would not be granted on the suspicion that Mr & Mrs Smith are watching Eastenders without a licence.

Secondly, for any technology to accepted in Court as evidence, the full details of that technology must be made available to the accused and his defence team. This has never been done (it is with speed cameras etc), which leaves you with the conclusion that the technology either doesn't exist or is on such "shaky ground" as evidence that it would be easily discredited in Court.

scotsbob

I don't think there are detector vans any more.

There was nothing sophisticated about them, it was just a directional microphone aimed at your window. This allowed the listener to hear if there was a television and what programme (channel) it was tuned to.

The vans were mainly deterrent value, after being driven around areas which had a low number of licence holders there was usually a rush to the Post Office the following morning.

thor

scotsbob wrote: »

I don't think there are detector vans any more.

There was nothing sophisticated about them, it was just a directional microphone aimed at your window. This allowed the listener to hear if there was a television and what programme (channel) it was tuned to.

or even just looking to see if there was an aerial sticking out of a roof of a property which was not listed as having a tv licence.

thor

coupleuk wrote: »

NOTE: this is a fun but serious post (honest)......

I was just reading a thread about people with no TV and therefore no need for a TV Licence.

Suuure you were;)

davidlizard

Whilst they keep the detection methods secret - possibly because they do not want people to build effective countermeasures, or more likely, because it either ineffective against CRT/Plasma sets or simply does not exist - it was thought to detect emissions from a local oscillator in the telly which is plausible.

The BBC website has this little gem:

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]For the first time the detector vans will use GPS satellite technology to track down targeted addresses. This will enable TV Licensing to precisely target individual evader homes using up-to-the-minute information from its database of 28 million addresses.
[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]So in other words, they have a cheapo £49 Sat Nav system from Halfords that they type the postcode from the non-licenced address database they [illegally] hold, tootle on round and hammer on the door.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]And this:[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"However, the technology is so secret that even the engineers working on different detection systems worked in isolation – not even they know how the other detection methods work."[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Yeah, right!
[/FONT]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2003/06_june/24/licensing_detector_vans.shtml

iniltous

Ages ago a programme on TV had a TV detector van monitor showing what another TV was displaying, they could even tell (from the picture on the detector monitor) what channel the detected TV was on, they also did a computer security type thing where they could display what was on a computer monitor , but it was years ago before digital tv and lcd/plasma screens, but it was demonstrated and I'm pretty sure it wasnt the 1st of April when they showed the programme

dane-katie

we have a tv, but dont have a tv license, its unplugged and sat in our dining room. TBH if they came up our 300m private drive way id tell them to sod off, im sure they aint allowed on private property.

davidlizard

dane-katie wrote: »

we have a tv, but dont have a tv license, its unplugged and sat in our dining room. TBH if they came up our 300m private drive way id tell them to sod off, im sure they aint allowed on private property.

They have implied right of access from your gate to your front door - this is the same rights that allows the postman, milkman, door to door salespeople, Jehovahs Witnesses, etc etc permission to enter your grounds. You can however write to them and withdraw this, in which case they will thereafter be trespassing.

To actually enter your house, unless you invite them in, they need a warrant from the courts, and executed in the presence of a [uniformed?] police officer.

Agreed that telling them to sod off is a perfectly reasonable approach!