The ADAC says similar problems may also arise in Belgium, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland.
Does not say Not Allowed.
Lots of grey areas in that short report, I would argue the fact it is not a dashcam, it is mounted behind my rearview mirror and is for our personal use in the evening to look over our trip and see how much of your wonderful scenery we missed whilst driving.
It is not a surveillance camera, it is not hidden.
In Germany you will be hard pushed to find a Cop Car without an actual dashcam fitted to the dash, as of course they are here in the UK, used correctly they are a good bit of kit.
The OP wasn't lucky to miss a fine, unless of course they were stopped and reprimanded but they do not say that, the cops over there probably realise that most tourists have one and to stop them all is pointless, so like our police with mobile phones they look away.
As has been said they are coming as standard soon and the Continent will be the leaders as per the norm.
------------- Peter and CofSD (Anne)
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Agree with the good sense shown by both chrisandsandra and Ian above!
We have a 'fit and forget' one which is well hidden from driver's view. Apart from the obvious we have some good footage, now on computer, when climbing many hairpin bends up to over 7,000 feet in the mountains near Segovia in Spain.
------------- The older I get the better I used to be.
Quote: Originally posted by iggycamper on 06/12/2016
Agree with the good sense shown by both chrisandsandra and Ian above!
We have a 'fit and forget' one which is well hidden from driver's view. Apart from the obvious we have some good footage, now on computer, when climbing many hairpin bends up to over 7,000 feet in the mountains near Segovia in Spain.
I forgot there was one in my wife's car. There would have been some nice footage from driving over the Pyrenees this summer on our way back from Spain. It will be over-written now. Shame.
Like others my dash cam is tiny and hidden behind the rear view mirror.
Two days ago, whilst leaving local filling station, i caught on my dash cam a collision between two cars. I informed both drivers and gave them my phone number.
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Daughter bought us one a couple of years back the RoadHawk. Not distracting at all automatically comes on with the ignition but can also be wired up to stay on when parked. As well as video with sound it saves the gps data & G forces in each direction, these are recorded on a constant loop but with a 16Gb memory card it lasts about a month. If you playback the files through their software player it also show the position on google maps. Unless you specifically want to see something such as where you have been or after an incident then the novelty of watching hours of driving along the roads is pretty boring & you aren't likely to bother much. Handy feature is you can take still images by pressing the button or you can record an incident which saves the video 15secs before & after in a seperate folder. Handy for recording places you've wildcamped at.
I installed a dash cam after an incident in Manchester when the mini who hit me drove off before I could get the registration number. However, to all intents and purposes I've ignored that it's there, it is not in my field of vision and comes on with the ignition. I also think that they will be fitted as standard like sat-navs in the near future. I didn't realise that some countries had a ban on them so thanks to Val for the info.
Dave.
------------- Never argue with an idiot, they will drag you down to their level and beat you on experience.
Mark Twain.
As the original poster of this information of this information I feel I should comment. Its all well and good for others to have their view on dash cams but that is just their opinion. The reality is that as Brits abroad we often take things for granted and I suspect most of us find this sort of ban as totally against the way we live in the UK. At the end of the day we have to accept and obey the laws of the countries we visit whether we understand the whys and wherefores or not. Dash Cams are not just used as a means of protecting yourselves in the case of a traffic accident. In fact that was the last thing on my mind when I purchased one. For those of you familiar with Austria it is a beautiful country and some of us might like to record some of those lovely routes on film but it seems, if we understand the legislation correctly, that we are no longer able to do so.
David
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Quote: Originally posted by jdt020471 on 06/12/2016
I think eventually dash cams will be factory fitted to new cars as a option to start and then standard later on, bit like air con and electric windows in the old days.
Before that happens there will need to be changes in the Legislation in the various countries mentioned here. I do not see that happening!
As has been stated Austria has very strict Laws about this.
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. "
That is why there is no google streetview of Austria. Google were not forbidden to streetview Austria but the wording of the law made it impossible for Austria to be streetviewed unless permission was sought from basically the entire Austrian population individually & even then it would need to be almost entirely pixellated.
Quote: Originally posted by LlaniDavis on 06/12/2016
Quote: Originally posted by Opensauce on 06/12/2016
It's 'data protection' innit? Some folk still labour under the illusion it is possible to hide anything these days...
Do these countries have "Data Protection" legislation, or are you jumping to conclusions?
Much of Europe have very different privacy rules to us.
The Data Protection Act is exactly the same as in other EU countries. It's the US that's different, with much laxer laws. EU businesses storing personal data on servers in the USA have to use a special legal device called escrow. Put simply, the data cannot be accessed from within the USA. So if your car insurer has your name, address and date of birth and wants to store it on a US server it is still protected by the DPA. Phew!
France does have different libel laws, which is why no one knew about Mitterand's mistress and why they never use criminals surnames in the press. Maybe that's what you were thinking of?
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Oh actually, the Austria thing is a bit like what's happening more and more in the UK.
When they build a new shopping area, as they did in Bristol in 2008, what appear to be ordinary roads are often now private land and photography isn't permitted. You're usually ok with something like a phone or a point and click, but I've known a couple of photographers with DSLRs get stopped and or ejected. There used to be a lengthy (and indignant) thread about this on the Bristol Flickr group.
Quote: Originally posted by jdt020471 on 06/12/2016
I think eventually dash cams will be factory fitted to new cars as a option to start and then standard later on, bit like air con and electric windows in the old days.
Come on, the old days! Some of us can remember when heaters and wing mirrors were purchased and fitted separately to new cars! Then they brought in radios, and seat belts.............
Never mind it was a flash in the pan and not a total ban in Austria. Personal users can use them for videoing when touring around the beautiful countryside of Austria with no problem.
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Topic: Dashcams in Europe - important
