If you walk around the city, and if you look up, you will soon see them: there are cameras in many places. Or when you visit a soccer game, walk on the platform, or go out for a night on the town in a busy nightlife area. But how many cameras are there in the Netherlands? To be precise: there are 313,354 in total.
This is evident from figures from the police database Camera in Beeld, which VPNGids.nl retrieved via a Woo request (1). And the number of "spies" is increasing rapidly: last year there were 302,890, and in 2019 there were even "only" 228,530 cameras hanging in the Netherlands. These are cameras of private individuals, companies and government organizations.
Nearly one in twelve security cameras in the Netherlands are "public cameras. These hang in public places for maintaining public order, traffic safety and crime detection. At the beginning of March, there were 22,773 public cameras hanging throughout the Netherlands. Ten months earlier, on May 1, 2022, there were 18,924 registered. According to VPN Guide, this year's number also includes the Department of Public Works' cameras. That explains the substantial difference in just under a year.
Around Schiphol Airport you will find the most government cameras. It is therefore one of the busiest places in the Netherlands, as are many inner cities where there are also many cameras. Yet there are still 105 municipalities where no video footage is taken. There are also more and more private individuals who hang cameras around their homes. To make sure thieves don't get a chance, or so you can see who is at your door. Consider the Amazon Ring, the smart video call.
Also read this blog: Do police encourage vacationers to violate AVG?
Quite apart from the many cameras hanging over our heads, questions are regularly raised about the origin of cameras and what about stored video images. For example, last year the VVD expressed major concerns about Chinese-made cameras.
When the NS planned to buy thousands of Chinese cameras, the largest government party jumped into the pen. Railroad infrastructure is part of the vital sector. In addition, the Chinese government is pursuing an offensive cyber strategy against the Netherlands. The government should therefore be tight-lipped about the procurement, according to the VVD, which considered the purchase of the cameras "highly undesirable."
Want to know more about camera surveillance, privacy and what practical tools you have when you want to install cameras? Then go to this course by Eliëtte Vaal (The Data Lawyers).
