It is an issue that has been pending for many years and the reality is that neither party is very convinced. There are experiences in Malaga, Sabadell or Tarragona. Also in specific cases in Madrid. Now, in Barcelona, taxi drivers want to bet on something that is common in other sectors: video surveillance cameras to improve safety on customer journeys.
The Barcelona taxi is clear: the insecurity of the streets well deserves a surveillance system for the group. At least to identify the aggressors; something that does not usually happen in cases of robbery or assault. Also in Malaga, where the group began this measure in 2017. In the capital, for its part, the surveillance systems have been under debate from the Government of Esperanza Aguirre -subsidies through which they ended up in borage water-; Now, in 2021, an agreement between the Professional Taxi Federation of Madrid (FPTM) and Securitas puts the issue back on the table.
Now, what does the regulation say about being recorded in a taxi? What should be taken into account? In short, the installation of a surveillance system in a taxi is allowed, but with many conditions . And, of course, the GDPR or Data Protection Law has a lot to say in this case.
Barcelona runs out of video surveillance cameras, for now
“The Generalitat does not like that we put video surveillance cameras, the IMET (division of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona dedicated to the taxi) does not like it either, all for a matter of privacy,” says Tito Álvarez to Hipertextual. Several Barcelona taxi groups have been sitting for weeks looking for a solution to the camera issue. “We will put the cameras to give their approval or not,” the popular driver said in a WhatsApp chat – very much in line with the pulse that the sector usually maintains with the Administration. Now, and after several meetings with the Generalitat, the City Council and the Mossos, the situation seems to have relaxed .
“The Mossos point out that as long as regulations and protocols are complied with, it seems very good for them to add security systems,” he adds. But the intentions of the IMET seem to go in other directions. Rather than allowing the installation of video surveillance cameras in taxis, the Metropolitan Area seems more interested in improving other security options. Among them, updating the 112 call system through a hidden button and which, according to the taxi, needs a revision with new more updated systems.
Also an SOS mechanism: the driver will only have to press the safety button, nothing will happen inside the vehicle, but the rest of the cars will see that they are in an emergency situation. The car hood (where you can see the free and busy light) would change color and activate the SOS sign. The police would only have to stop and check the situation.
At the moment this option is the most viable, but for video surveillance cameras there is still a lot of work ahead. “ It would be necessary to go through a video surveillance commission and after a private company was in charge of the installation,” says Tito, leaving the idea that it was the administration itself that would take charge of the matter. .
It is not much different from any store
Photo by Lexi Anderson on Unsplash According to the Barcelona taxi, if a taxi driver were to put cameras on his own decision, the IMET would end up sanctioning the act. For Samuel Parra, an expert lawyer in data protection, “this is not very different from putting a camera in a room” . Therefore, de facto, the driver could exercise his right as long as he complied with the regulations.
It is not allowed to record with a mobile phone – in Spain this would constitute a violation of the client's privacy. But yes with a surveillance system as long as the vehicle carries the popular yellow notice – in a visible place – that the customer is being recorded. If the passenger enters the car, a tacit agreement to approve the conditions is initiated .
In any case, “the identification sticker must comply with the regulations and carry the pertinent information from the video system,” says Parra. Regulatory documents and updated regulations must also be carried in case the passenger requires their review. This system, in any case, is a round trip: useful for the taxi driver, but also for the passenger. This could require the review of the images in case of need or report to the police and in which the images could be useful for the investigation.
What happens with the registration of the images? The issue of privacy and security has been one of the maxims of the Generalitat when rejecting, for the moment, the use of video surveillance cameras. But the Spanish Agency for Data Protection is very clear in this regard. You can only “review these images in the event of specific dangerous situations inside the vehicle” and only 20 seconds before and after the reported event. In addition, the files can only be kept for a maximum month under an encrypted and protected system. Again, it would be playing on the same terrain as in the case of being recorded in a store or restaurant. Or even on public roads.
In case of hiring the services of a security company, the approvals by the cloud management are already authorized and reviewed, so there would be no problem. It also has automated storage and processing systems. In the case of having a home video system, Parra points out that practically all of them are already associated with a cloud that allows images to be managed. In case of irregularity, “the responsibility is exclusive of the taxi driver”. If private and irresponsible use is made of them, the charges would run on your account.
