“The chambers project will progress as planned, with the number and location planned”, highlighted José Manuel Silva, who was speaking at the presentation of the @Baixa project, within the scope of Digital Commercial Neighbourhoods.

The mayor highlighted, however, that the opinion of the National Data Protection Commission (CNPD) limited six of the 38 video monitoring devices to the possibility of automatically reading license plates.

According to the president of the Coimbra municipality, “these cameras will not have any automatic reading and the project is moving forward”.

The municipality intends to increase the system from the current 17 video surveillance cameras to a total of 55, having made the request for expansion to the Ministry of Internal Administration, which, in turn, requested an opinion from the CNPD.

The installation locations of the equipment target areas with the highest crime rates, according to statistical data from the PSP's Coimbra metropolitan command.

The opinion of this body, approved on December 3, to which the Lusa agency had access, concluded only that six pieces of equipment capable of recognizing license plates were not used to locate vehicles, “as there is no legal basis for the processing of personal data arising from this collection”.

The mayor of Coimbra, however, considered the municipal project @Baixa, part of the Digital Commercial Neighborhoods program, “profoundly transformative” and an opportunity to revitalize and build a new future for the city’s downtown.

“It is a major investment in the modernization of Baixa, in digital accessibility and in promoting its image in a positive and constructive way as a large open-air shopping mall, with enormous diversity”, highlighted José Manuel Silva in today's presentation of the project.

In the session, chaired by the Secretary of State for Economy, João Rui Ferreira, the mayor highlighted the digital transformation of downtown Coimbra, which “has all the potential to once again become one of the most vital commercial areas in the city”.