New speed camera convicts mobile phone offenders - but it could soon be switched off again
Created: 06/18/2022, 05:01
By: Ares Abasi
Certain speed cameras are currently being tested to catch cell phone offenders in the car.
An expert expresses concerns.
Trier – Police monocams have been in use in Rhineland-Palatinate since June 2022.
These recognize whether the driver is on the phone while driving.
But with the new traffic offender technology, there are already the first data protection concerns.
Since the beginning of this month, the Trier police have been observing more and more attacks on cell phone perpetrators.
With the mobile speed camera, a so-called monocam, which is being used for the first time in the Netherlands, officials can determine whether a driver is using a mobile phone while driving, reports the website chip.de.
The technology works.
But now the state data protection officer in Rhineland-Palatinate is worried about the special camera.
So far, it has not always been easy for the police to prove that a cell phone offender is using a smartphone while driving, which can be life-threatening.
This can now change with the latest technology.
Since June 2022, the police in Rhineland-Palatinate have been running a six-month pilot project with special mobile phone speed cameras to catch traffic offenders, according to chip.de.
Cell phone speed cameras in use: data protection not secured by monocams?
The technology is still very young.
The Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of the Interior is now testing the so-called Monocam in Trier and Mainz for three months each.
The cameras are programmed to recognize when the driver is holding the phone and record evidence accordingly.
And the device seems to be working: Since its installation, 40 cell phone offenders have been convicted in Trier based on photographic evidence, reports chip.de.
But the Rhineland-Palatinate data protection officer Dieter Kugelmann, who is now involved in the planning of the approved pilot project, has serious concerns about the functionality of the microcontroller.
The SWR reports on this, among other things.
In order to recognize who is actually phoning while driving, cameras record all passing vehicles.
All drivers who are normally on the road are also photographed.
A monocam for recording mobile phone offenders at the wheel stands on a motorway bridge.
The monocam will be tested for three months in the area of the police headquarters in Trier.
© Harald Tittel/dpa
Cell phone speed cameras cause concern: violation of personal rights
According to Kugman, police must justify the recording even if it is not processed further.
The pilot project lacks this legal basis, so the photos constitute a violation of personal rights.
The Ministry of the Interior knows this and is now pointing out that the use of a single camera is only a pilot project.
The ministry said if it proves successful after six months, a legal basis will be put in place.
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What do Kugelmann's concerns mean for cellphone offenders?
Theoretically, fines based on cell phone speed camera recordings could be controversial.
Anyone who is caught driving with a mobile phone in their ear or in their hand can currently be fined more than 100 euros and one point in Flensburg.
(Ares Abasi)
