By The Guardian
Published on February 8, 2024
Italy’s data protection body is investigating claims – denied by TfL – that police shared names and addresses with firm collecting penalties from drivers
The names and addresses of thousands of EU drivers were unlawfully accessed by Italian police and shared with the company that collects Ulez penalties on behalf of Transport for London (TfL), investigators believe.
The Italian data protection authority is investigating claims by Belgium’s government that an unnamed police department misused official powers to pass the personal details of Belgian drivers to Euro Parking Collections, which is employed by TfL to issue fines to enforce London’s low emission zone (Lez) and ultra-low emission zone.
Authorities in the Netherlands and Germany have stated that their databases were also illegally accessed by an agent in Italy in what one Belgium MP has called “the biggest data and privacy breach in EU history”.