Wed, 11 November 2014: 'Is license plate parking an invasion of privacy?'

"Car parking? In some Dutch municipalities, motorists have to enter their license plate number at the parking meter. To the displeasure of Bas Filippini (48), chairman of the Privacy First foundation. He is demanding in court today that the municipality of Amsterdam abolish so-called license plate parking.

Filippini says it is an invasion of our privacy. "There is a direct link between me and my license plate number. I want to be able to travel anonymously." If the court agrees with him and Amsterdam has to change its parking policy, he expects other municipalities to follow suit.

The immediate cause of the lawsuit is a parking fine Filippini received for not entering his license plate number at a parking meter. The fine amounted to 59.60 euros. "That's ridiculous, isn't it?" said Filippini. "If I don't want to participate in collecting license plates, I should be allowed to do so."

The government is failing to maintain privacy, Filippini believes. He fears misuse of the stored license plates. "The government is building a licence plate database. I am sure they can use that information for other things."

He thinks a good alternative is numbering parking spaces so that motorists can enter that number at the parking meter. "That is anonymous, and the software of the machines can easily be adjusted."

Privacy First has also fought for the anonymous ov-chipcard and the importance of medical confidentiality. In February, they were proven right in a case about the central storage of fingerprints. That is not allowed, the verdict said."

Source: Wed, 11 November 2014, p. 9.