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The Office of the Commissioner for Personal Data Protection clarified on Friday that no foreign or domestic company has direct access to government IT systems, records, or databases for issuing fines. This statement follows concerns raised by the Volt party about claims that a foreign company could access multiple databases, including the population registry, the Department of Roads, and the Registrar of Companies, to issue out-of-court photocopying fines.
According to the Commissioner’s Office, a Cypriot company, which is a subsidiary of a U.S. firm, manages the photocopying system on behalf of the Police. This company identifies vehicle registration numbers from traffic violation photos and provides them to the Police.
The Police then use the Government Information Warehouse (GIW), a secure data exchange platform operating since 2016, to request vehicle owner details. Within 24 hours, the GIW provides this information, which is then shared with the contractor to issue and send the fine.
The Commissioner emphasized that this system was designed under her guidance to comply with the law, which permits data sharing only between controllers. The contractor company does not have direct access to the GIW or any government database. Furthermore, citizen data related to fines are not shared with the parent U.S. company.
Regarding a recently launched tool by the contractor to track outstanding fines, the Commissioner has recommended additional security measures to ensure that sensitive information remains confidential. Discussions with the Police to implement these safeguards are ongoing.
