Data concerns at recording of licence plates for survey
The engineer overseeing the €1bn Cork-to-Limerick road upgrade has responded to data protection and privacy concerns over the use of number-plate recognition cameras in a massive traffic survey.
Jari Howard, project manager for the vast road project, said that all the data gathered by the array of cameras which have been deployed across Cork, Limerick, and Tipperary is anonymised; that specific data processing agreements are in place; and a data protection impact assessment has been completed.
“We have been doing this kind of work for several years and we wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t data compliant. The data gathered by the cameras is anonymised, it’s stored securely, it’s only kept for the purposes for which it’s gathered, and it can only be accessed by certain individuals,” he said.
He was responding to concerns raised by Independent Cork City councillor Ken O’Flynn following the deployment of dozens of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras across the city.
They are part of a vast traffic survey which began last week on several national and regional roads in the region to capture origin-destination trip data for tens of thousands of vehicles that pass through the vast study area. It is one of the largest traffic study areas ever assessed in Ireland.
The cameras use ANPR technology to capture an image of each individual number plate. An anonymised number is assigned to the image, which allows another camera to identify the same vehicle at a later stage in its journey. The data will allow transport planners to map routes and journey times as part of the detailed design of the Cork to Limerick motorway.
However, Mr O’Flynn said while he understands the need for the survey, he has concerns about the collection, storage, and use of the data.
“This is private personal data and its collection must be done in a responsible manner, and in a way which does not interfere with the privacy of citizens,” he said.
The Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) confirmed that it has 31 investigations under way into local authorities and the Gardaí on the “surveillance of citizens by the State sector for law enforcement purposes” through the use of technologies such as ANPR, certain types of CCTV systems, body cameras, and drones.
“The purpose of these inquiries is to probe whether the processing of personal data that occurs in those circumstances is compliant with data protection law,” said the DPC.
