In their desire to differentiate themselves and offer the best equipment, brands such as Yamaha, Suzuki, BMW, Voge, Zontes or Benelli, among others, are already announcing on their motorcycles the installation or pre-installation of a gadget that just a couple of years ago seemed like a dream. an eccentricity: a mini-camera integrated into the front part – at the base of the windshield or under the headlight – that continuously records while driving. The images, exactly like any other camera, are stored on a memory card that is rerecorded until the owner decides to extract the data.
The dashcam is designed, in principle, with the more than innocent intention of preserving the memories of a trip, sharing a good route or immortalizing a biker day with friends.
The truth is that dashcams are mandatory in other countries that consider them a very effective tool to prevent fraud against insurance companies or determine liability in the event of an accident.
However, in others it has not taken long for voices to appear warning about its possible illegality by recording indiscriminately and the fear that the right to privacy no longer has a place even on the road.
Well, in reality there is no specific regulation in this regard and in that sense they are as legal as a smartphone or a “Go-Pro” type sports camera.
For the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD), as indicated in its Legal Report on Camera on board, “a permanent recording of public roads is considered video surveillance, an activity for which only the Security Forces and Bodies of the State”. Despite that, today, nothing prevents mounting a camera on a motorcycle or car.
What can be illegal – exactly as happens with any other image capture device – is the use made of the recorded content. As long as the images are used strictly privately and do not violate the confidentiality of third parties or the data protection law, there should be no problem.
In essence, what Organic Law 15/1999 of December 13 on the Protection of Personal Data says is that it can be recorded anywhere – including public roads – as long as it involves “exclusively personal or domestic activities” so As long as you do not go outside this area, it is perfectly legal to record your routes while riding. Things change if publicity is given to third parties who have expressly requested not to be recorded or have not authorized it or data is shown – license plates, addresses… – that may compromise the privacy of other people unrelated to the recording. Nor can any agent of the state security forces or bodies be recorded in the exercise of their duties.
Well, be careful, because from the moment they are shared – by whatever means – and publicity of some kind is given to the images, they are no longer considered domestic recordings and the Data Protection Law would intervene there. If only those interested appear in the recordings, there is no problem in sharing them, but if they show unrelated third parties, legible license plates of other vehicles, private acts of third parties or minors, any trace that identifies them must be pixelated or eliminated before post them on the network.
There is jurisprudence in both senses, both for and against. Today, the validity of a dashcam recording before a court – for example, to determine liability in an accident – depends solely and exclusively on the judge’s criteria, which must be considered based on the legal principle of the “legitimate interest” of a of the parties if – like any other evidence – obtaining these images does not violate any third-party rights, there is no doubt about their origin and context and it provides relevant data. As a rule, it is established that only images that record the fact that is intended to be demonstrated can be provided, with a margin of 20 seconds before and after it and they must be devoid of sound.
The “legitimate interest” is regulated in article 6 of the General Data Protection Regulation and is included in European regulation 2016/679, point 1, section f, and explains that the Judge must assess whether “the processing of the images is necessary for the satisfaction of legitimate interests pursued by the controller or by a third party, provided that such interests are not overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the interested party that require the protection of personal data, in particular when the interested party is a child”.
Obviously, if necessary, third-party access to these images is only allowed for authorized people: lawyers, judge, insurance company personnel…
In addition to the aforementioned “Legitimate Interest” and the right to effective judicial protection – a fundamental right included in the Spanish Constitution – Your Honor must consider whether a series of precautions are in place regarding the origin of the images:
