Drivers warned about uploading dashcam footage to social media

Drivers have been warned that uploading any dashcam footage online could have serious legal consequences.

No matter how many followers or views social media users think dashcam clips can get them, road safety experts at Road Angel are urging drivers to think twice before uploading footage online.

One in five vehicles in the UK are now fitted with dashcams, and video footage from the devices is frequently used by police forces to prosecute for a range of offences.

Tens of thousands of road users now submit footage of dodgy driving directly to police forces where it is used as evidence to help convict offenders.

So much so that police forces up and down the country have set up Operation Snap in response to the ever increasing submissions of video and photographic evidence from members of the public in relation to road traffic offences.

Operation Snap will investigate offences of Dangerous Driving, Driving without Due Care and Attention, Careless Driving, using a mobile phone, not wearing a seat belt, contravening a red traffic light, contravening solid white lines, and other offences where the driver is clearly not in proper control of the vehicle.

The footage from dashcams can also be used as a witness statement if police decide to proceed with punishing a driver caught on camera.

With a growing proportion of road users collating footage of law-breaking through their dashcams, the Crown Prosecution Service has warned recorders not to upload their footage to social media.

If the clips are used as evidence to prosecute, the footage should not be in the public domain because it could adversely affect subsequent proceedings.

By posting dashcam footage to social media platforms, there is a risk of infringing the privacy rights of individuals that are recorded and the data protection law.

Individuals who feel that their data protection rights have been breached could file a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) who may hand out hefty sanctions and fines.

Gary Digva, founder of Road Ange l said: “Dashcams are extremely useful devices for motorists, and can help them to gather evidence and information for both insurance companies and the police if there is an accident.

“However, if you do capture an incident on your camera, you should think twice before uploading any footage to social media.

“Doing so could risk infringing the data protection rights of recorded individuals, even if they were driving dangerously.

“Posting the footage online without the consent of all involved can be seen as a violation of privacy and could easily interfere with legal proceedings, meaning the evidence could be scrapped and the case closed as a result.

“It’s best not to share any of the footage with anyone bar the police who will exclusively use it for court proceedings.”

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