Dashboard cameras approved by parliament

A bill outlining the legal framework for the use of dashboard cameras in vehicles, set to come into effect three months after its publication, was approved by the House plenum on Thursday.  

It is an amendment to the most recent road safety legislation and regulates the use of cameras in private, commercial and public sector vehicles, with the aim of protecting drivers in the event of traffic violations or accidents.

Their use does not allow for the recording of audio material while the processing of data remains subject to the data protection commissioner to prevent the uncontrolled recording of personal data.

The legislation limits the use of recordings to investigative purposes in the case of accidents or other illegal acts and explicitly prohibits the publication of videos including third parties without their consent.

The law was approved with 19 votes in favour and 16 against.

Ecologists’ Movement president Stavros Papadouris argued that the new amendment fills a missing link given that many vehicles already have the cameras, but that there had not been appropriate legislation in place until now.

“Many cars on the roads of Cyprus that have dashboard cameras,” he said, adding that the aim of the new law is to allow their supervision under the competent authority.

Disy MP Demetris Demetriou said the technology is already integrated into many cars, and that the dashboard cameras could contribute to resolving liability disputes in the context of insurances.

However, he expressed reservations, stressing that provisions for audio recording were taken out and the use of the content was restricted to extraordinary situations, for the purpose of safeguarding personal data.

Opposition party Akel sharply criticised the bill, warning the technology could be abused to monitor the private life of citizens and posed surveillance risks.

Akel MP Andreas Pasiourtides said he was surprised the bill had been waived through by the data protection commissioner and relevant authorities, saying that stricter conditions had been set in recent legislation for cameras on police uniforms.