Filenews 1 December 2020 - by Andrea Demetriou
Neither illegal nor legal is the use of dash cams (cameras on the dashboard) in Cyprus. To date, no legislative framework has been established covering these cameras on vehicles, but what can be considered illegal is the filming of public spaces, which is prohibited since the Protection of Individuals against the Processing of Personal Data and the Free Movement of Such Data Act 2018 is violated.
Using this camera, routes can be recorded, possible dangerous driving of other drivers and protection of the vehicle in the event of accidents or even theft. In other countries such as Ireland, the use of dash cams is mandatory.
In accordance with this legislation, the collection, use, storage and communication of images and sound in public places requires the consent of the affected persons and in the case of minors consent of a parent or their legal guardians. So, since dash cams essentially capture images of roads and vehicles close to it, its use is not legal.
If the recording is made, then, in accordance with the provisions of Article 5 of Regulation No 679/2016, the processing of images and/or audio of third parties, adults and minors, without their consent, violates the principles of legality, purpose limitation and minimisation, since: (a) such processing lacks a legal basis, (b) videographed/visual material is not collected for a specified, explicit and legitimate purpose and (c) excessive, unrelated and unnecessary images of third parties are collected/recorded.
