Privacy Commission concerned about the speed camera database

The Home Affairs Minister Jan Jambon wants the database used by the 500 speed cameras on Belgian motorways and dual carriageways to be linked to smart cameras in local police zones. This would allow police to follow suspect’s movements. The Privacy Commission has criticised this project. The Minister has wanted this in place since 2016, De Standaard wrote on Saturday.

The Commission is concerned about the storage of data from cameras that recognise number plates. Data on the location and identification of vehicles is stored for a year at local level, in the “technical database”. “If we keep this data for a year at both federal and local level and also link databases together, a map of the suspect’s movements could be traced and shared”, the Privacy Commission has said. “It has an impact on privacy”, says Caroline De Geest, a jurist involved in the case. The Commission has even spoke of “mass surveillance”.

The Privacy Commission thinks the text drawn up by the Minister’s teams does not respect the principle of a right to privacy.

Jan Jambon’s cabinet has said they will consider the Privacy Commission’s considerations. 

(Source: Belga)


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