Estonia, Legislation, Transport
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Friday, 29.03.2024, 11:20
Data protection rules may prevent recording speeds in-between cameras in Estonia
"At first sight it seems that it is not possible to calculate the
average speed without processing data on all vehicles passing the road section
under question. This means that identification would concern not only speeding
vehicles but also the movements of law abiding motorists would be
observed," Maire Iro,
spokesperson for the Data Protection Inspectorate, told BNS on Wednesday.
"And a potential risk lies in this, as it could become possible to
profile drivers based on their traffic behavior, location information may
become known with precise times and direction of movement, travel routes
and similar. In that case this may be not a proportional measure for the
detection of violations. The Traffic Act at present does not allow to take into
use a solution like this either," Iro said.
Spokespeople for the Road Administration told BNS that although their agency has given thought to fining
motorists for speeding using a point-to-point camera system, no concrete
proposals have been made to date.
Also the spokesperson for the Data Protection Inspectorate said the Road
Administration has not approached them with the idea.
"Fining motorists based on data about their average speed on a
specific road section would definitely be a positive development from the point
of view of road safety. At the same time, also the rights of citizens, first
and foremost the principles of processing personal data, must be proportionally
taken into account," Krisela Uussaar, manager for traffic organization
devices at the Estonian Road Administration, told BNS last week.
"I addition to the Personal Data Protection Act also the Traffic
Act and several other related laws would have to be changed for that,"
Uussar said. "The Road Administration has not initiated amendments to the
said legislative acts yet. A prior in-depth analysis of the subject is required
with regard to the rights of citizens, the technical possibilities, and keeping
in mind the sectoral objectives and activities of different authorities,"
Uussaar said.
She added that the Road Administration cannot estimate at this point when
the relevant changes in legislation could take effect.
The Road Administration has installed 63 speed camera booths on Estonian
roads and is entitled to use two speed camera booths at the Kristiine
intersection of Tallinn. Altogether 47 speed measuring systems can be operated
in the booths.