Parking enforcement

Municipality of Harlingen

The council uses automated number plate recognition vehicles to carry out parking checks. The cameras record number plates using an image recognition algorithm and check them against the parking permit database to verify that a valid parking permit is in place. In addition, special investigating officers carry out checks using handheld scanners.

Last change on 17th of June 2026, at 9:20 (CET) | Publication Standard 1.0

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

General information

Theme

Traffic

Begin date

2025-01

Contact information

[e-mail]

Responsible use

Goal and impact

The purpose of the parking enforcement vehicle is to carry out monitoring and enforcement in the context of metered parking, in particular to check compliance with the obligation to pay parking charges and to issue additional tax assessments.

In the context of the implementation and enforcement of digital number-plate parking, only those personal data necessary to enable the monitoring of parking tax payments, as well as for the levying and collection thereof, including the imposition and processing of additional tax assessments.

Considerations

The use of a parking enforcement vehicle makes it possible to carry out parking checks more efficiently and on a larger scale than is possible with manual checks alone. This means that a greater number of vehicles can be checked in the same amount of time, and enforcement resources can be deployed more effectively.

The use of automated checks may carry a risk of false positives. To mitigate this, assessment and further processing are carried out under the responsibility of a special investigating officer. In addition, those affected have the option to lodge an objection against any additional tax assessments imposed, following which a reassessment will take place.

Human intervention

Once the number plate has been recorded using an image recognition algorithm, it is automatically compared with the parking authorisation database. Based on this comparison, it is determined whether a valid parking authorisation exists for the vehicle in question.

If this automated check reveals that no valid parking authorisation has been registered, this is classified as a potential offence. In that case, a further assessment is carried out by a special investigating officer prior to any further enforcement action.

Risk management

Technical and organisational measures have been put in place to protect the privacy of data subjects. Footage recorded by the scanning vehicle is processed in such a way that individuals are rendered unrecognisable by means of blurring. Number plates of vehicles other than the one being checked are also rendered unrecognisable.

If the algorithm detects a possible offence, inspectors receive only those images in which the relevant number plate is visible, whilst other number plates are obscured.

The images recorded in the scanning vehicle are not stored locally. Access to images is restricted to authorised officials and takes place via a secure application.

To minimise the risk of false positives, every alert generated by the algorithm is subject to human verification by an authorised enforcement officer before any further enforcement action is taken.

Legal basis

Section 225 of the Local Government Act; Parking Tax Regulation 2026

Links to legal bases

Parking Tax Regulation 2026: https://lokaleregelgeving.overheid.nl/CVDR746378/1

Impact assessment

Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA)

Operations

Data

Vehicle registration number, incident code, location, date, time, details

Technical design

The scanning vehicle uses Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras, which automatically record vehicle number plates and compare them with the National Parking Register (NPR) to determine whether a valid parking authorisation is in place.

Number plates for which a valid parking authorisation has been confirmed are removed from the monitoring system (back office) within 48 hours. If no valid parking authorisation is found, the relevant number plate is forwarded to the enforcement system for further processing. In this system, number plates are supplemented with vehicle data for the purposes of levying and collecting parking charges.

External provider

InPublic BV / Q2C