Penalty against private person because of dashcam

Penalty against private person because of dashcam

A private individual had installed two surveillance cameras, so-called dashcams, in his vehicle. A motion sensor controlled the cameras, so there were recordings during the fart, as well as when the vehicle was stationary.

The police discovered this fact in the course of a road police check and forwarded the information to the data protection authority.

The vehicle owner, as the controller within the meaning of the GDPR, justified the installation by saying that he needed evidence of his innocence in the event of an accident. In the course of the evidence procedure, the question of proportionality was therefore raised. The data protection authority made it clear that the legitimate interest of the vehicle owner does NOT prevail here.

The penalty totaling € 330, – is divided into three points:

• € 220,- for the unauthorized use of the dashcam
• € 80,- because of missing marking of video surveillance
• € 30,- procedural costs

In assessing the penalty, the authority took into account the financial means of the owner of the vehicle. This had a monthly net income of about € 900, -. He has three non-minor children, one of whom has a physical disability, so there are duties of care. In addition, the defendant has debts to the tax office in the amount of approximately € 1,300.

These personal circumstances explain why the penalty was significantly lower than in other cases of illegal video surveillance in Austria.

Entscheidungsdatum:
27.09.2018

Land:
Austria

Art des Verstoßes:
Illegal data collection

Betroffene Datensätze:
unknown

Waren sensible Daten betroffen?:
No

verhängte Geldstrafe:
€ 330,-

Quelle:
https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/Dokumente/Dsk/DSBT_20180927_DSB_D550_084_0002_DSB_2018_00/DSBT_20180927_DSB_D550_084_0002_DSB_2018_00.pdf