Dash Cams in Europe

[Anthony1]

Does anyone know why they illegal in Portugal and Austria? In my view they are great devices in case of an accident.

In Portugal and Austria you cannot own a dash cam let alone use it.

Using a dash cam in Austria is illegal, full-stop. First-time offenders will be slapped with a whopping €10,000 fine, with repeat offenders fined €25,000. In fact, it’s not even legal to own a dash cam. Be sure to leave yours behind if you’re planning to head there on your trip.

While at least owning a dash cam is allowed in Luxembourg, using one is still totally illegal. Make sure it stays in the glovebox for the duration of your time there.

It may be totally legal to use a dash cam on your drive through Spain to get there, but once you arrive in Portugal it is neither legal to own nor use a dash cam, so leave yours at home if you’ll be driving there.

Saving the most complex for last, dash cam usage is a very muddy area in Switzerland. While they’re legal in theory, it’s all but impossible to get any use out of them while still obeying strict Swiss data protection laws.

For a start, they can never just be used for entertainment or documenting a journey – there has to be a legal purpose to recording. Then they must conform to the Swiss ‘principal of transparency’: it needs to be obvious that those being recorded are being recorded. As dash cams are discreet by nature, and other drivers are usually only aware of their existence after an accident occurs, that’s a box likely to remain unticked.

It must also adhere to the ‘principle of proportionality’. Given that dash cams record for the entirety of a journey, the ratio of important stuff being filmed to unimportant stuff being filmed will probably be extremely unfavourable. Hundreds of people, vehicles and buildings that have nothing to do with any incident (if, in fact, an incident even occurs) will end up being illicitly recorded.

If you’ve read all that and are thinking to yourself that it doesn’t sound as if it’s possible to use a dash cam in Switzerland at all, you’d be just about right. Keeping the roads safe is viewed as the responsibility of the police, and it would be for the best if you kept your dash cam disconnected throughout your travels there.

 

[MarkVw2017]

Even here in the uk, theres some laws on them, if the Dashboard Cams are on work or commercial vehicles, then a member of the public has the right under Section 7 of the DPA to make a Subject Access Request to view the footage which contains their image; for that reason a sign saying how they can apply for this may be warranted but not currently compulsory.

 

[Stoneybroke]

There's lots of hidey holes in a Cali, they'd have to find it!

Privacy is the issue in many countries. Even where legal, publishing the footage may be controlled.

The UK has fairly lax privacy laws, but @MarkVw2017 says, if for other than personal uses, DPA would apply and storage, retention, security and Subject Access rules all apply. The retention shouldn't be an issue for most Dashcams as the overwrite periods are short, which helps with SA Requests too.

 

[Ting Tong]

What we need is some quasi governmental organisation to issue some Directives harmonising our matters such as this with our neighbours. That way we will have free movement across borders without worry.

Oh, but.................

 

[Bellcrew]

What we need is some quasi governmental organisation to issue some Directives harmonising our matters such as this with our neighbours. That way we will have free movement across borders without worry.

Oh, but.................

Yes good idea, we would of course end up with dash cams banned and the crash for cash darlings returning in style.