In violation of the law, the municipality of Rotterdam deployed two filming cars during the lockdown last year to track down corona offenders, writes NRC. Those cars drove around to check if people kept enough distance from each other.
That was unlawful, the Dutch Data Protection Authority ruled in a report that the newspaper has seen. For example, the municipality and the police failed to perform a privacy test in advance and the images were stored for too long, namely seven days. Moreover, according to the AP, the filming of civilians had not been necessary at all: the enforcers in the car could have simply passed on their findings via the walkie-talkie.
According to NRC, Mayor Aboutaleb is trying to stop the publication of the report. He contradicts that.
The cars drove through the city in April and May last year. They were equipped with 360-degree cameras that captured faces and license plates in detail. They mainly drove along parks and squares. At that time, groups larger than three people were banned.
City officials assessed the footage and were able to decide whether boas or police officers should go to the filmed locations. The cars together made 75 reports of groups breaking the rules.
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