The Taxi Plan drawn by Brussels Minister for Mobility Pascal Smet (SP.A) would jeopardize citizens’ right to privacy, according to Attorney Etienne Wery, Ulys associate, whose analysis is reported Wednesday in La Libre Belgique. One item in the plan is particularly problematic: that of transmitting “through direct access and in real time” to the Brussels administration, the trips done by the drivers on platforms such as Uber.
“One of the issues in this document is the article mentioning ‘geolocalization’,” explains Mr. Wery, counselor. “Should this be the case, it is obviously a huge intrusion in people’s privacy: not only is the driver tracked, but the client as well. This means that the administration will be able to consult in real time the routes followed by a particliar client… This is going much too far.”
“The objective here is probably to control the competition among different actors, or to fight against social and tax fraud by preventing drivers from moonlighting. This objective may be legitimate, but the intrusion seems completely out of proportion,” continues the lawyer.
“You have to be careful with the rights of those who have nothing to do with this intrusion, that is the taxi or Uber users.”
The Brussels Times
