Dashcams on Austrian streets

In the Asian region there are cameras installed in the car’s cockpit, thing which has already been a common practice for years. In case of accidents, these permanently accompanying pieces of evidence can provide information about the accident and protect drivers from insurance frauds. Obviously, there is a growing interest in this additional equipment also in the European region.

In Austria, however, the Data Protection Act restricts the possibilities. In a specific case, a car driver was not allowed to equip his vehicle with a device which had a manual recording possibility.

Both the Data Protection Authority and the Federal Administrative Court of first instance concluded that this was a video surveillance of the public area, for which the car driver had no authority.

In the specific case, the Administrative Court also declared the camera to be inadmissible, but stated that the admissibility could be given if the interference with the fundamental right to data protection is proportionate and if one of the legally regulated permits is present. Assuming that the monitored object could become the target of a dangerous attack, the proportionality could be given. Perhaps this means, that a camera which in case of an accident is capable of permanently storing the previously recorded data, would be allowed.

Source: https://www.vwgh.gv.at/medien/mitteilungen/2016-10-1-dashcam.html