Various regional dailies, 29 Aug 2013: 'Route checks violate privacy rules'

“Flashing speeders via route controls goes against European privacy rules. That is the view of advocacy group Privacy First.

The organisation is preparing a lawsuit to have fines at route controls invalidated. The case is expected to come to court in late autumn.

With section controls, the average speed of a car is measured over a longer distance. To make this possible, the car's registration plate is scanned. In 1999, the Supreme Court approved the method. Yet Privacy First thinks it has enough leads to overturn this ruling fourteen years later at the European Court of Human Rights.

According to lawyer Vincent Böhre, the route control violates privacy because random motorists are tracked without being suspected of a crime. Under the European human rights convention, this is only allowed if a specific law is made for it, Böhre argues. That law should specify exactly what the data can be used for.

The Netherlands has no such law. However, there are plans to use the camera images to track suspicious cars. Privacy First made its name in the past by fighting against the inclusion of fingerprints in passports. However, the new battleground will be motorists' privacy, argues Böhre.

Similarly, the plan to use camera footage from route checks at the same time to catch stolen cars or tax evaders falls badly with the organisation. The organisation already recently called on motorists to oppose 'license plate parking' in Amsterdam. Parking meters in that city require the car's license plate to be entered. This goes against the right to travel anonymously in one's own country, Privacy First argues. A sample notice of objection for motorists was downloaded nearly a thousand times from the organisation's site."

Source: Noordhollands Dagblad, Gooi- en Eemlander, Limburgs Dagblad, Dagblad De Limburger, BN/DeStem, Leidsch Dagblad, IJmuider Courant, Haarlems Dagblad, Eindhovens Dagblad, Twentsche Courant Tubantia, De Stentor, Zwolse Courant, Veluws Dagblad, Zutphen Dagblad, Sallands Dagblad, Nieuw Kamper Dagblad, Gelders Dagblad, De Gelderlander, Dagblad Flevoland, Deventer Dagblad, Brabants Dagblad, Apeldoornse Courant, Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant, 29 August 2013.