The Dutch police are asking 15,000 citizens to update their information about security cameras. Camera in Image is a database of private citizen cameras that the police uses to request images in the event of a crime. Participants must now link their account via DigiD.
Linking Camera in Picture with DigiD
With the Camera in Pictures initiative, the police want to better fight crime. It has access to more than 315,000 citizen cameras shared by a total of 65,000 volunteer participants. If there is a crime in your area, the police can request your images to see if there are any traces of the perpetrator.
Camera in the picture is of course only effective if the address details of participants are also correct, which is why the police are now sending an email to 15,000 of its participants. They would link their data to the DigiD, so that the police have the current address details of camera owners.
“Effective Agent”
“Camera in Beeld has often proven itself as an effective means with which citizens can help the police to track down suspects. That is why we think it is so important that as many existing participants as possible re-register with their DigiD. This is how we see per street which security cameras are available, who owns them and how long the images are stored,” says Karel van Engelenhoven, the project leader of Camera in Beeld at the police. in a press release. “That helps the police to request camera images faster and more specifically after, for example, a burglary, (home) robbery or other crime. This way we keep the neighborhood safe together.”
The privacy side
Yet Camera in Beeld also has a more controversial side, because it contrasts security with the right to privacy. After all, it is mandatory for citizens to aim their cameras in such a way that as little as possible is in view of the public road. And that in order not to jeopardize the privacy of local residents. An initiative such as Camera in Beeld can give people the idea to ignore this directive, because they can lend a helping hand to the police in the event of a crime.
The Dutch Data Protection Authority has also expressed itself critically about CCTV surveillance via citizen cameras. In the municipality of Almere, for example, free video doorbells were distributed to citizens. “If a municipality wants camera surveillance, then the municipality should simply hang up cameras,” said AP board member Katja Mur at the time. NOS.
Incidentally, the police cannot watch live images of users and only request access in the context of an investigation. What do you think about the Camera in Image initiative? Is it a good thing that the police also use citizens’ aids, or is it important that citizens keep their cameras away from the street in the first place? Do you participate in Camera in Focus? Let us know in the comments.
Do you have any tips or ideas?
Androidworld is the largest Android community in the Netherlands and Belgium. So we do this together! Do you have a question about the topic we discuss during the theme week or do you have ideas or tips? Let us know in the comments below this article. You can also email us at this email address or leave a message at Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. You can also ask us questions via this Telegram group. Would you rather send one of the editors a tip? Then you can!
– Thanks for information from Androidworld. Source