Police in the Czech Republic record car movements and other data with advanced monitoring equipment.

It maintains the data on each vehicle for many months for no particular reason.

According to the information requested by NGO Iuridicum Remedium (IuRe), the system, known as "automatic vehicle monitoring," is intended to be used to search for stolen vehicles, to streamline the investigation of crimes and offenses related to the use of these vehicles and to help in the fight against terrorism.

The database contains a vehicle's registration number, place and date of passage, as well as the driver's picture.

Records kept for months

Records are kept on all cars driven through monitored sites, without any specific ties to any suspicion that the driver of a car had committed any wrongdoing. These records are then kept on file for an extended period.

"It is clear from internal rules that the data are automatically stored for several months," said IuRe Chief Executive, Jan Voboril.

Monitoring takes place on both stationary cameras, primarily intended for section speed measurement or detection of red light violations, and mobile devices. The license plates of cars are scanned with an automated license plate recognition system.

Losing privacy

"We understand that this system can be an important tool in the search for stolen cars or in the investigation of crimes related to road traffic, but what worries us is the long-term storage of all records, without evidence of any violation of law by the driver," said Voboril.

The database makes it very easy to research movement of a particular car according to individual records, even months back. According to IuRe, this may be an exploitable tool for tracking virtually anyone.

"It is important to remember that the vast majority of data is not of those who have somehow broken the law, but of anyone and everyone using a car," said Voboril.