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upstart writes:

A high-profile legal case recently showed how useful dashcams can be, but French regulations are unclear over whether they can be used as evidence:

Sales of dashcams are starting to take off in France, with most car-parts shops offering models from €50, but their use falls into a legal grey area. Exact figures are hard to come by, but a survey in 2015 estimated there were at least 300,000 dashcams bought in France that year.

It is now not uncommon to see the cameras in cars parked on the street, even in small rural towns. Some even have features that set off the camera if anyone is close to the parked car, or if the car is touched by another vehicle. Images are usually sent to the owner's smartphone, where they can then be stored.

[...] France has very strict privacy laws, and among them is a law that states that while it is legal to film or photograph people in public spaces in France, you cannot use the images without the express consent of all the people who might be identified, either through their features or through the car they drive.

Obviously, people who have recorded someone driving into their car, or filmed another driver being aggressive towards them, will want to use the images, but doing so can be complicated.

Some years ago, the German insurance company Allianz, which has a big presence in the French market, offered a discount to clients who used dashcams. Now the company seems to have removed the offer.

Similarly, carmaker Citroën, which offers dashcams as factory-fitted options on new C3 and C4 models, went silent when asked how the images they record might be used.

The CNIL data protection commission told The Connexion there was no specific legislation relating to them but it "strongly advised" that people did not use them. "While we are waiting for government or parliament to come up with laws governing their use, we are vigilant on the question and have carried out legal exercises within the CNIL considering various scenarios," it said.

"As a result, we strongly recommend that taxis, vehicles with a chauffeur (VTC) and individuals do not have any device which records, even partially, public spaces."

[...] "If you are in an accident where another driver is at fault, to be strictly within the law you have to tell them straight away that you have a camera and the incident was filmed," he said.

"You then have to transmit the images to the other driver as quickly as you can, and also to the police if they are involved, because if you wait, the presumption is that you have manipulated the images.

"Obviously, the best way of doing that is through your lawyer or insurance company, but you have to be quick about it, and it is not always easy to get personal details so you can send the images."

He said that if someone tells you that you have been recorded, you can say you do not give consent for the images to be used if you think that you might be at fault.

"But while you have the right to oppose the images, which may or may not help your case with the insurance company, the courts also have the right to use the images gathered as evidence against you, if they are presented to them by the authorities."

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