Spying Fears Remain Over Road Cameras: Lawmaker

Transport officials have failed to allay privacy concerns about traffic cameras they plan to install on the city's roads, a lawmaker said on Friday, as it remained unclear whether or not these cameras will be able to film people inside their cars.

The government is planning to spend HK$230 million on 520 devices to monitor traffic flow on highways and major roads, including technology that automatically recognises number plates.

Asked in Legco whether these cameras could breach people's privacy, officials from the Transport Department said videos recording car licence plates would be encoded and the data collected would not be passed to law enforcement agencies.

But Democratic Party legislator Lam Cheuk-ting said lawmakers were not given a clear answer as to whether or not the technology would involve filming people inside vehicles.

"The first government official claimed that the device cannot film inside the vehicle. But the second clarified that, in fact, it can shoot inside the vehicle. I am not so sure that the government gives us the accurate answer or not during the meeting."

Lam said he had written to the government to ask for further information.