Tasmanians have been left confused after receiving historic infringement notices from private parking operator Care Park, who are demanding payment for car parking dating back to 2022.
Drivers took to social media over the last fortnight to question the validity of the notices, which arrived unexpectedly and relate to alleged parking breaches from up to three years ago.
Several motorists have contacted Pulse to raise concerns around privacy, questioning how the company obtained their personal information.
While councils and courts are the only entities that can issue actual parking “fines”, private operators can issue payment notices for breach of contract.
Operators like Care Park typically have no legal authority to enforce payment for the breach of contract notices.
Pulse can reveal that the Tasmanian Government was recently forced to hand over the personal details of car owners across the state following a court battle.
“Recently the Registrar of Motor Vehicles was ordered by Magistrates Court Hobart to release specified details from the register of motor vehicles to Care Park Pty Ltd,” a State Growth spokesperson said.
“The information that was ordered to be released was the names and addresses of the registered operators of listed vehicles as at the dates a parking infringement had been issued in a Care Park managed car park in Tasmania.”
“This information would not have been released to Care Park Pty Ltd without a court order compelling the Registrar to release the information.”
One Hobart driver who spoke to Pulse said he was concerned over what he deemed was a breach of his privacy.
“I am particularly concerned that the Registrar for Motor Vehicles has disclosed my personal details to a third-party entity in relation to a civil matter,” he said.
“If personal information can be disclosed in response to a private contractual dispute, it follows that any individual or company could theoretically obtain a court order to access personal details through the Registrar for a wide range of civil matters.”
The driver plans to lodge a formal complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner over the release of the information.
Care Park operates private parking facilities across five Australian states, New Zealand and Malaysia.
The company maintains that its terms and conditions are clearly displayed at every car park.
“When a customer parks their vehicle in one of our car parks, they are deemed to have agreed to the contractual terms and conditions and entered into a contract with Care Park,” their website states.
