Control with a scanning car

Municipality of Zaanstad

Short description With the scan car, the municipality carries out parking checks. The scan car uses Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras, identifies license plates and checks parking entitlements. The license plates without parking rights are transferred to the enforcement system for the purpose of collecting the parking tax due.

Last change on 24th of November 2024, at 20:30 (CET) | Publication Standard 1.0

• Publication category: Impactful algorithms
• Impact assessment: DPIA
• Status: In use

General information

Theme

Public Order and Safety

Begin date

2021-12

Contact information

https://www.zaanstad.nl/contact/

Responsible use

Goal and impact

The purpose of the scan car is to ensure efficient and effective parking control in the paid parking areas within Zaanstad municipality. Using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology, the scan car can quickly and accurately check whether vehicles have the correct parking permits. This helps enforce parking rules and increase compliance.

The scan car improves parking compliance through regular and accurate checks, leading to fairer use of parking spaces. The system is more efficient than manual checks and saves time and resources. The data collected provides valuable insights for better parking regulation without violating the privacy of license plate holders as the data is anonymised.

Considerations

Efficient and effective parking surveillance. The scan car can scan around 1,200 license plates per hour. This is less labour-intensive than manually scanning license plates.

Human intervention

Yes, the scan car sends photos of the license plate and photos of the surrounding area to City Hall. At City Hall, staff from the Enforcement Department check the photos from the scan car. They look at the situation in the photo and assess whether an additional parking tax assessment (parking fine) is justified. Only the photos of the license plates that have not paid a parking fine show up at City Hall. Drivers who have not paid or have paid too little parking fee will be sent a parking fine at home. In all cases, it is up to employees of Enforcement Department who check whether non-payment actually took place. And in all cases, they impose the additional charge.

Risk management

All data is processed securely. The scan car anonymises license plates within 24 hours. Only license plates without parking rights are forwarded to the enforcement system. Security rules are laid down in an agreement with the supplier. There is always a human checking the fines.

Legal basis

Section 225: This article empowers municipalities to levy parking taxes.

Sections 234 and 235: These sections regulate the collection of municipal taxes, including parking taxes.

Impact assessment

Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA)

Operations

Data

Registration number. And when a fine is issued, only the registration number, location and vehicle details are processed. No personal data (such as name and address) is used. Only when a parking fine is imposed, the tax organisation Gouw adds the personal data.

Links to data sources

• Gemeentewet: https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0005416/2024-01-31
• Verordening op de heffing en de invordering van parkeerbelastingen 2024: https://lokaleregelgeving.overheid.nl/CVDR709473

Technical design

The scan car uses Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras on the roof that recognise license plates and check whether parking has been paid for through the National Parking Register (NPR). Within 24 hours, all license plates are anonymised in the control centre (Back Office system of the scanning car). License plates without parking fees are forwarded to the control system. In this system, the license plates are supplemented with vehicle data to collect parking tax.

External provider

Scango / National Parking Register