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In my personal view, drivers in Portugal are no better, or worse, than many other countries. Like most other countries, you will find sane, and insane drivers. Probably by far, the worst are the impatient drivers, who just can’t wait to overtake, whatever the risk they put their, and others, lives to. People frequently complain that the police don’t do anything about this. The problem is they can’t be everywhere, the police just don’t have the resources to patrol every road.
Would dash cams help bring bad drivers to court?
I noticed recently that the UK police have a National Dash Cam Safety Portal. It is now being used by 33 forces, which have collectively received over 30,000 uploads in total since 2018, when it was launched. These frequently result in fines, points on the offenders driving licence, or even loss of their driver’s licence. It’s hard to find any valid reason why these are not legal in Portugal
Why are dash cams against the law?
The use of dash cams in public is illegal in Portugal due to privacy laws, and if you are caught using one, you will pay heavy fines for breaking the law. This is because you cannot take a video of someone’s private property like their car or house. This argument falls apart when you realise that closed circuit cameras (CCTV) are now being installed in many cities. In the Algarve these are being installed in Faro and Portimão, and further afield. There is a police control centre in Faro which monitors these cameras. Number plate recognition is now being predicted, the software is available and is already in use in many EU countries.
It seems the privacy law doesn’t cover these new cameras. This makes no sense at all. Apparently, the court in Portugal has ruled that dash cams are an invasion of privacy. What about CCTV cameras now being installed around many cities?
Why is CCTV legal when dash cams are not?
In 2018 the laws were amended regarding CCTV cameras. The government announced some relaxation in the complex laws covering the private installation of video surveillance cameras and broadly is following the new European data protection legislation which came into effect on 25 May 2018.
The new rules mean that any person or company can install a video surveillance system without prior authorisation from the National Commission for Data Protection, as long as cameras don’t point at a public road. Please note, can’t point at a public road. CCTV cameras being installed in cities do point at the road and the pavement. Does that mean the government can do this, but you can’t?
The installation of CCTV is spreading fast. It was reported earlier this year that the municipalities of Guimarães, Famalicão and Braga will proceed with the installation of video surveillance systems in the streets.
The law seems to be completely confused. There is a very comprehensive paper you can find on the internet, ‘Video surveillance versus privacy in Portugal’. They quote an instance where a pharmaceutical company wanted to install cameras covering the production of pharmaceuticals to avoid theft. There is a quote which says it all: ‘In the event that the cameras capture images of an employee committing a certain criminal act that may give rise to fair dismissal, the employer is denied access to the images’. They were refused permission to install the cameras, noting that if the cameras recorded an employee performing something that should lead to their dismissal, theft or suchlike, then the employer could not have access to the recording.
Meanwhile, it’s ok to install CCTV in the streets so the police can identify crime. The police are seeking a change in the data protection law that will enable them to identify vehicles, record their number plate, and identify the owner. The best that can be said is that the privacy laws need a serious revision and clarification.
You can find an article covering recent changes in Portugal here. It’s written by the International Association of Privacy Professionals
CCTV in public places reduces crime
There seems little question that properly used CCTV is essential to help the police prevent crime or to identify criminal acts quickly and efficiently. The UK government says: ’There is little evidence to suggest that these systems help to deter crime, however, CCTV footage plays a major role in responding to incidents, investigating crimes and prosecuting those responsible. Such footage is useful in both low-level crime cases and high-profile incidents. So CCTV doesn’t deter crime, but certainly helps solve it. As normal (I hope) law-abiding citizens we should welcome CCTV on the streets where appropriate. It’s for our benefit and safety.
Dash cams could be a real contribution to road safety
I can’t see a valid reason why dash cams should be illegal in Portugal. I can see that they might be a major contribution to road safety. We all see things that the police don’t see. Changing the law and developing a website to upload images to will be a bit of a challenge, but Portugal has some top-class web technicians. Perhaps it’s time to start ‘campaigning’ to see the law changed.
Where there’s a will there’s a way.
Resident in Portugal for 50 years, publishing and writing about Portugal since 1977. Privileged to have seen, firsthand, Portugal progress from a dictatorship (1974) into a stable democracy.
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You are 100% correct, and the laws are not only ridiculous and behind most of the free world, but they are violated by the government constantly. Plus every store, restaurant and bar has cameras recording humans.
Dash cams save the "he said, she said" of accidents. The officer, or the court, can look at the video and see what happened, without bias.
Nobody in public should expect privacy. We can see things with our eyes, so why is a camera an issue in the same areas, such as the view out the front of a vehicle?
How many crimes does CCTV, private and public, prevent? Massive amounts, and it catches man criminals.
Dash cams don't like or color statements. They simply document what happened. Portugal needs to get with the rest of the free world and allow them.
Mark
By Mark McDowell from Algarve on 10 Sep 2023, 16:44
What about all the Tesla's and all others cars after 2020? They all have them integrated. Are they going to ban them from the roads?
By Mart from Other on 10 Sep 2023, 16:48
As far as I understand the law here in Portugal, it is not illegal to record but it is illegal to publish without consent. I am sure the ECHR would rule in favour of any prosecution considering dashcam or any other security cams showing footage of illegal acts whatever they may be
By Paul di Roosta from Porto on 10 Sep 2023, 20:25
because people in Portugal love scratching other cars at parking lot and run away
By SS from Porto on 11 Sep 2023, 02:38
I agree with Paul, in fact I bought a car from a Portuguese dealer that has an integrated CAM. When I saw an accident involving a car and motor bike, the GNR asked me for copies of the video at the time of the accident and again when they started prosecution against the car driver.
On a seperate occasion I was stopped for a random document check and I asked the GNR agent who said it is legal as long as you don't publish without written permission of anyone in the video/photo.
I believe this may also apply to anyone taking photos that have people in the shot. I ssupect the law is there to aid should someone complain about photo/video being published that they did not want to be in.
By Lindsay McCaughey from Algarve on 11 Sep 2023, 07:52
"In my personal view, drivers in Portugal are no better, or worse", sorry, I have to disagree, the standard of driving here is appalling, when do you ever see a car stop at a stop sign, why do the majority of cars in Portugal appear to have non-functioning indicators etc etc? The law against dash cams is ridiculous and the sooner it is changed, the sooner driving here would become a lot less hazardous.
By Greg from Other on 11 Sep 2023, 09:02
Never have I seen an entire group of people so excited to be constantly recorded and monitored by the government, that their fix to illegally installed CCTV is to relax privacy laws to make it legal, and double down with automatic tracking and recognition.
Please keep mass surveillance for the North American and East Asian states, it's not welcome in Europe and definitely not in Portugal.
By Miguel from Lisbon on 11 Sep 2023, 09:19
As far as I have experienced so far in Portugal is that it did not progress much from the dictatorship that it was, to this socialist dictatorship that it is now. . . It's a falacy that we have a "democracy" today. . . This camera issue is a perfect example. .
By Walter from Other on 11 Sep 2023, 09:29
You don't want big brother watching you. You're not in Russia or China, or some evil dictarship, where people have no freedom. If you like that system move to Iran, or an evil empire like the Anti-Christ system where they'll execute you in public.
By Tony from Other on 11 Sep 2023, 10:26
The context and reason for recording is important. If you are in a public place and commiting a crime or serious social problem, then using a recording as part of evidence should not be a problem (if it accurate) anywhere. Filming people in private places or releasing vexatious footage is different (but in the anonymous online world, ironically this is easier than submitting official video as evidence). So the law mostly protects people committing crimes.
By Jo Walker from Porto on 11 Sep 2023, 12:57
Dash Cams are not legal in Portugal I have used one to prove I was the innocent party in an accident and also to convict a driver for reckless driving. The video was show in court and was the only evidence the police had. Before fitting my dash cam I asked the police to confirm they were legal which they did. The privacy laws you talk about don’t seem to be an issue if dash cams are used as intended. Some new modern cars come fitted with dash cams these days.
By Spencer Cox from Lisbon on 11 Sep 2023, 16:22
I suppose it will be another 10+ years before it sinks in, unless some top lawyer 9r government official is killed in an avoidable accident
By Eric Humphreys from Porto on 11 Sep 2023, 16:44
Whenever a human being leaves the privacy of their dwelling and go in the public, their privacy is gone, until they return home. Why this outcry about cameras, be they new technology or the decades old cameras. This violation of privacy thing was pushed to the forefront by ill intentioned people in North America and it is grdually spreading. Nothing wrong with these CCTV or DashCam. What the user does with them, well .......
By JC Audet from Lisbon on 11 Sep 2023, 16:45
This is false. No one as been fined for having a dashcam in Portugal. There's no law that prohibits them.
I have one in my car and have been stopped by the police and had no problems.
You just can't share the recordings online without hiding license plates or faces.
In case of accident they can eventually be used in court (depends on the judge) and there's a recent case of a BMW driver that caused multiple accidents and the authorities used recordings to get to him.
False news or at least miss information.
By João Gomes from Lisbon on 11 Sep 2023, 19:35
Try explaining this law to the thousands of YouTubers publishing videos daily . What a stupid law
By Paul from Lisbon on 12 Sep 2023, 02:41
I fully agree, road accidents in Portugal are above the EU average and anything that helps reduce this should be used. I had a dashcam for many years before moving to Portugal. I could not believe they were banned.
By John Parsons from Algarve on 12 Sep 2023, 07:50
We have dashcams in both our cars. After conversations with friends who expressed doubts about their legality, and then reading conflicting articles online (now including this one!) I went to the GNR to ask. I was told they ARE legal if correctly used, ie for general filming of what happens on the road ahead. They are NOT legal if used with the express purpose of filming something or someone specific, eg a person or vehicle you want to catch leaving a premise, nor is it legal to use the speed camera alert functions available on some models. In the event of accidents and use of recordings in a court of law, the dashcam evidence can be submitted but it is up to the judge whether they admit its use or not.
Please TPN triple check your information thoroughly before publishing such articles! The author raises valid points and arguments but the article is at least misleading!
By julie from Beiras on 12 Sep 2023, 09:25
The standard of driving in Portugal is disgraceful and needs an overhaul. The lack of planning by some drivers when attempting to overtake is terrifying. Tail-gating, pulling out with mere inches to spare and accelerating around cars into a blind bend. Or coming around a blind bend on your side of the road. Driving drunk and swerving. A lot of drivers are completely oblivious of their surroundings and you could probably count on two hands the number of people who know how to use roundabouts. How about drivers who pull out right in front of you as you're overtaking on a motorway, or directly behind your bumper as you pass? I would not much care for these people taking themselves out but it's everybody else they put in danger and the emergency services that have to clean up after them.
Dashcams are almost a necessity in Portugal and regardless of the consequences I installed one on my car and I have a helmet camera on my motorcycle (and let's not talk about the standard of motorcycle riding - how most of them are alive I do not know!).
I won't post this stuff online for the sake of it but there absolutely should be a place to upload badly behaved drivers for police enforcement.
If more cars and bikes had cameras, you could easily imagine drivers might behave a little better on the roads knowing that they can be seen and caught.
Let's catch up with the modern world, at least in this respect. It is literally life and limb saving.
By Rob from Algarve on 18 Sep 2023, 14:39
In this day and age everyone has a phone with which they breach those privacy rules everyday by taking photos and videos in public places. The retarded laws of this country are not those of a stable democracy, but if a country that has never really left fascism behind, it shows in people’s attitudes, Covid being a prime example of the rise of the little Hitlers, to the attitude of the GNR and the police.
By Tony Pereira-Moleiro from Algarve on 02 Jan 2024, 11:39
Tesla cars all use cameras as standard are they all illegal?
Law is an ass, proven with hypocrisy.
By Me from Other on 03 Feb 2024, 15:05