BNR News Radio, 21 September 2016: 'Judge brushes aside objections to license plate parking'

“Amsterdam municipality may continue with license plate parking. There is no breach of privacy, the court ruled.

This was ruled by the judge in summary proceedings between Privacy First and the municipality of Amsterdam. According to the judge, introducing the license plate is necessary for enforcement. According to the judge, there are sufficient safeguards to protect the privacy of citizens. The judge also considers electronic payment no problem.

Anonymous parking

Privacy lawyer Christiaan Alberdingk Thijm, partner at agency Brandeis has his doubts about the judge's verdict. 'You have to ask yourself: is it necessary to do it this way and can't you introduce a way to park anonymously, just by putting coins in the machine or by doing it in another way without entering your license plate number. Technology of course does allow for that, we see that in other municipalities as well. So in that respect, I don't quite follow the statement.'

'The municipality of Amsterdam is violating the law and is guilty of abuse of power by saddling parkers with unnecessary costs and procedures,' Privacy First argues. According to the foundation, having to provide the license plate number is also inconsistent with being able to park anonymously. 'Every day, anyone who wants to be able to park anonymously runs the risk of being wrongly fined. This situation cannot continue any longer.'

After-tax

When you park in Amsterdam where paid parking applies, you have to report the car's registration number. If you don't, you will be charged. As soon as you can prove that you have paid, this charge will be cancelled.

Unjustified

The reason for the summary proceedings was an earlier Supreme Court ruling. A woman dragged the municipality of Amsterdam to court earlier this year after she was fined for not reporting the correct license plate number. The Supreme Court eventually ruled that that fine was unjustified, because the law states that a fine can only be imposed if a fine has not been paid. That had happened in this case.

Check

Specifying the license plate number allows parking attendants to easily check by scanning the license plate. The cars that automatically scan license plates in Amsterdam also make use of this."

Source: https://www.bnr.nl/nieuws/juridisch/10311169/rechter-veegt-bezwaren-kentekenparkeren-van-tafel, 21 September 2016.