Transport for NSW will review its mobile phone detection cameras after one took a photo up a Sydney driver’s skirt.
Per news.com.au, Cinzia Lee was behind the wheel when she was pinged by a traffic camera holding her phone in her lap.
When she received a fine in the mail, it also contained an extremely invasive image.
“You could see up my skirt, between my legs. You could see my underwear,” she told 2GB’s Ben Fordham on his weekend Ben Fordham Live! podcast.
“Shock and distress was my initial reaction.”
Fkn yuck, honestly.
As reported by 9Honey, it’s believed that Transport for NSW is meant to censor any sensitive materials snapped by traffic cameras with a black bar. There are also rules in place which ensure the cameras only keep the data that’s needed to detect an offence and issue a fine or whatnot.
But in Lee’s case, the photo hadn’t been censored. She told Fordham it felt like her privacy had been violated, especially considering Transport for NSW staff had seen the uncensored photo in order to issue the fine.
Lee filed a complaint with Service NSW but claimed the response she received “basically ignored everything [she] had said”, so she asked to speak to a lawyer about the situation.
“I went to court because I wanted to be a voice for the women of NSW that this is happening to, and I felt that no one was listening to me,” she said.
“So I wanted it at least to go on the record.”
The magistrate at Downing Centre Local & District Court set the upskirting issue to the side and focussed on the mobile phone use. Although she pleaded guilty, Lee’s fine ended up being waived thanks to her “impeccable” driving record.
But Lee still doesn’t feel like the upskirting situation has been dealt with adequately, and reckons a review into mobile phone detection cameras is needed.
“I definitely think there has to be a review, for sure, or there should be some kind of notice given to women and children in NSW that anytime you hop into a car, your crotch [and] between your legs can be photographed,” she said.
“You feel a bit like David [and] Goliath because you have no control over who has seen those photos … that’s just a really, really awful feeling.”
NSW Minister for Metropolitan Roads and Women’s Safety and the Prevention of Domestic and Sexual Violence Natalie Ward has since told Fordham a review will take place.
“I understand the distress of the driver,” she said.
“I have asked Transport for NSW to review protocols for the handling of sensitive images.”
Good. As there fkn should be.
I can’t believe this is the second time in 2023 that I’ve written about a traffic camera upskirting a passenger.
Back in January, a Gold Coast couple called on authorities to apologise after a mobile phone detection camera snapped an “indecent photograph” up Anh Nyugen‘s skirt which appeared to show her underwear.
‘Tis extremely invasive and gross.
