QLD Legality of Recording Passengers in Uber with Dash Cams?

[Fermented Freedoms]

Hi,

What are the privacy laws regarding using an in vehicle dash camera to record passengers in an Uber? Are Uber's considered public spaces? What are a driver's responsibilities when using a dash camera?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Rod]

State laws vary on recordings. What state are you in?

Keep in mind you also need to check the Uber terms of service if using their service. You may well be consenting to the recording just by using Uber. I don't use it, and have no idea what terms they impose.

If Uber do not have consent they may be illegal recordings, particularly if the passenger is on their own mobile having a conversation with another person. In this instance the driver is not a 'party' to the conversation and must not record the call.

 

[Tim W]

Are you the driver or the passenger?

 

[Timnuts]

I also was tracked via GPS, which was located in a vehicle and voice recorded, and then the voice recording was given to another person. Is this a massive privacy breach of the two people?

Myself and my friendwere in the car having a conversation and being recorded and it was made public to a third party or more.

Where would I find a lawyer that would look at this case?

 

[Rod]

Timnuts - report your situation to the police.

 

[Tim W]

Who was the third party?
How did you find out?
And why do you care?

 

[Fermented Freedoms]

Are you the driver or the passenger?

Hi Tim,

I am asking on behalf of drivers. We are often put into threatening situations with riders in our vehicles. Dash cameras seem to be the best deterrent, but also offer evidence of proof of innocence when false allegations arise.

Keep in mind that Uber instantly deactivates drivers if there is any report from a rider, even if false and unproven. There have been instances where dash cameras were the only evidence to get an Uber driver "re-activated".

I'm in Qld, but opinions for other states is welcome.

Thank you good sir!

 

[Fermented Freedoms]

State laws vary on recordings. What state are you in?

Keep in mind you also need to check the Uber terms of service if using their service. You may well be consenting to the recording just by using Uber. I don't use it, and have no idea what terms they impose.

If Uber do not have consent they may be illegal recordings, particularly if the passenger is on their own mobile having a conversation with another person. In this instance the driver is not a 'party' to the conversation and must not record the call.

Not sure about their terms as Uber does not make it easy to obtain a copy of their driver terms. Uber does require access to a drivers phone's microphone, camera, etc. Nobody knows why they require this access, but some paranoid drivers speculate that they're data mining for speech recognition of keywords, much like Google records 2-3 seconds of audio constantly to detect keywords for it's voice activated search features.

 

[Rod]

Uber does require access to a drivers phone's microphone, camera, etc

Sounds like Uber and the driver in some circumstances may well be breaking Australian law.

 

[Tim W]

I gather that UberX is now legal in Queensland.
In which case, start thinking about the car as your workplace.
In which case, think about the Workplace Surveillance laws in Queensland,
and go from there.