Dashcams in Europe - important news

[ValA.]

From another forum and important enough to be shared here and on other forums:

I came across this website. I had no idea that a dash cam was not allowed in Austria, and some other countries, having used one on our trip earlier in the year was I lucky to avoid a €10000 fine? Just shows you can't take anything for granted!!!

 

[emmerson]

Thanks for that Val. Anne was going to buy me one for Christmas. I'll rethink that now!

 

[Hutch]

Emerrson, please rethink, They are a great advantage, just remove the unit when in a country it is not allowed. How many people actually disable the speed camera function in France, or fit headlamp "Dippers" when you have the new flat beam lights. My Dash cam cannot even bee seen as its hidden behind the RV mirror and the lens sits about 1/4 of an inch below the Tinted area around the mirror. It wont be long until it is a built in device in cars.

 

[otherclive]

Austria and Germany do have very strict privacy laws, which stem fro their joint recent history. The German train crash that killed 12 people has resulted in the Track Controller going to jail for 3.5 years as he was playing on his phone at the time. But The court/media only named him as Michael P to protect privacy. I guess in UK where we have precious little privacy the approach adopted by some other countries does seem unduly restrictive. The Austrian penalty doesn't seem commensurate with the offence though. But I would echo the advice to stick with the dash cam where its legal. I wonder if cyclists and motor cyclists in Austria are banned from using helmet mounted cameras, or that perhaps the recording cannot be used inn legal proceedings.

 

[Raywood]

I knew the German position but an absolute ban in Austria was news to me. I can just about see the privacy bit but it is way over the top. In any country though the dash cam should not obstruct the drivers view, I have one but it is mounted the other side of the interior mirror so is not obstructing my view.

 

[RayS]

I don't have one but understand they are illegal in Spain too

 

[trooper31]

:cheer: Dash cams are a "God send",I bought one about 12months ago and would'nt go anywhere without it fitted,recently I have had near misses with the dreaded motorbikes,undertaking,overtaking and cutting up,they're always on to car drivers to "Think Bike",as an ex motorcyclist myself alot of these "Bikers" need to take more notice and care when passing cars and pedestrians,I am not saying all bikers are "Idiots" there are a lot who give sensible bikers a bad name and in the event of an altercation with a car etc it's nearly always the car driver to blame.
I agree with the comment over the privacy laws in Germany and EU in general,I served for 8 years in Germany when in HM Forces and you had to abide by the laws laid down by them,I know in france you have to have the speed camera alert turned off if using a satnav.

 

[DianneT]

I have found this on the web.

Conclusion: Dash-Cams / Action-Cams are not in principle / in itself forbidden. It depends on the use of this unit. If you use the camera only, for example, to make a private recording of an interesting journey, almost like a short vacation video, does not object (because this is not a systematic and continuous / permanent monitoring). Please note, however, that no personality rights are violated. If you provide / display such a video to others, all persons and markings have to be made unrecognizable. In addition to the aspects of data protection and the protection of privacy, copyright infringement may still come into play in the case of the non-authorized distribution of such a video. "

So no problem if you are using it to photograph trips. This was from the Police in Austria.

DianneT

 

[DianneT]

Thanks for that Val. Anne was going to buy me one for Christmas. I'll rethink that now!

Anne can buy you one emmerson no problem.

 

[Hutch]

There is a lot of confusion here, the use of Dash Cams can cause problems in law, due to privasy laws. But recording your private road trip is not banned so therefore there is a problem,
https://www.edoeb.admin.ch/datenschutz/00625/00729/01075/index.html?lang=en

The Swiss who are very stringent about rules are totally messed up.
I will just keep mine rolling.

 

[emmerson]

Thanks for that Val. Anne was going to buy me one for Christmas. I'll rethink that now!

Anne can buy you one emmerson no problem.

Anne bought me a new reverse camera Dianne, but my daughter bought me a dash cam, so now I can get 'em from both ends!

 

[DianneT]

Your the lucky one then emmerson toys to play with.

DoanneT

 

[Hutch]

Just seen that Citroen are bringing out built in ones., I knew It would not be long.

 

[otherclive]

Just seen that Citroen are bringing out built in ones., I knew It would not be long.

Guess that its satnav/gps will turn it off as you enter Austria and back on again as you leave.

 

[KeefySher]

When Mercedes started fitting the camera that controls the intelligent lighting system and the speed sign recognition system I enquired why the spare feed from the camera that is in the unit couldn't be used to record to a hard drive, it was due to data privacy in some countries. Seemed an obvious step forward where it is not subject to data privacy.

 

[DianneT]

Just seen that Citroen are bringing out built in ones., I knew It would not be long.

Guess that its satnav/gps will turn it off as you enter Austria and back on again as you leave.

No need to turn it off in Austria if it is for Private use no problems . Someone got it wrong when they posted about that.

DianneT

 

[Thingy]

I have used mine regularly in Austria with no problems. You only have to look on Youtube to see how many people have recorded specific trips.

 

[JonnyG]

Its is Illegal to use a dash cam for what the dash cam is marketed fo in Austria end of.. but you can knock off the loop mode and record a journey .sounds daft right ,but we all bought these things for surveillance around our cars as an added protection against Moron drivers and it is this the Austrians and others say is illegal... so i say make sure you knock off the loop system and carry a few micros sd cards just in case.