Car cameras and privacy concerns

However, Vietnam now aims to make driver monitoring cameras available in all cars.

I have asked many international car rental companies why they don't have such devices installed in their vehicles. The answers were all identical: having such devices would violate the privacy of those who rent the cars.

Car cameras are illegal in Austria. Users of such devices would receive a warning if discovered, and a fine ranging from 10,000 to 25,000 euros (US$10,560-26,400) if caught a second time. Similarly, the devices are banned in Luxembourg and Portugal, where anyone filming in public places without permission may face a regulatory fine.

Several EU countries do allow car monitoring cameras, but authorities apply close scrutiny to the usage and distribution of the video materials. Germany allows the use of car monitoring cameras, but outlaws the sharing of any traffic videos on social networks for privacy reasons. France and Belgium only allow the data for personal usage, forbidding the public sharing of such materials. Any distribution would have to receive explicit permission from all individuals appearing in the videos.

Several countries like Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the U.K., Russia, and Turkey, allow the cameras, but use is discretionary and up to the driver and vehicle owner. In the US, only police vehicles are compelled to have vehicle monitoring devices set up for officers to gather evidence at disputes or crime scenes. If the vehicle is not a publicly owned and specialized vehicle, the use of car monitoring cameras is completely subject to personal wishes.

Having car monitoring devices can be useful in many ways. Upon traffic accidents, the devices can help identify the wrongdoings and settle disputes. In many countries, the scenes recorded by car monitoring cameras have been used in court for this reason. For such benefits, insurance companies would be willing to pay money for car owners to set up cameras in their vehicles because this could prevent people from intentionally seeking traffic accidents for insurance payments.

In some countries, car cameras have become the norm for new car owners. Some drivers now feel "anxious" when driving a car without a camera.

Recently, Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security proposed that all vehicles should have "vehicle monitoring devices, devices to gather information and images of drivers."

The proposal raised concerns regarding two main points: the requirement of the monitoring system for all vehicles, and the requirement to record images not only outside but also inside the vehicle. If the government could not provide convincing arguments to address these two issues, in my opinion, the proposal could be seen as illogical, and potentially conflicting with existing laws.

The first concern is related to citizens’ privacy rights. Government Decree 13/2023 on individual data protection, which became effective July 1, protects the data of individual citizens. For commercial vehicles and contract drivers, regulations mandating commercial vehicles to be equipped with black boxes and monitoring cameras have also been effective since July 2023. The data gathered from these devices is transmitted to the Department of Roads, Ministry of Transport for governmental management.

The proposed law, which attempts to require individually owned vehicles to record data, did not specify the management methodology of such data. Which government agencies can access the data, and when? How secure would the data be? Those are only two basic questions regarding the interaction between the government and individual drivers. But even if the government cannot access the data without individuals’ consent, the requirement of monitoring cameras in cars poses some visible concerns regarding data protection and individual privacy.

In my opinion, although the devices have their perks, the right to individual privacy is a basic and inviolable right. To use or not to use a camera should be up to the individuals' discretion.

Second is the applicability of the policy. To equip their vehicles with such monitoring devices, car owners would need to interfere with the cars' mechanical and electrical systems, which pose inherent issues of operation stability, especially if the procedure is done by ill-trained car engineers. The devices would also need to match the cars' specifications, or else the vehicles may malfunction and endanger the drivers.

Therefore, if the government wishes to impose car monitoring devices, the policy should target car manufacturers directly, requiring them to equip vehicles with the monitoring devices before the cars are sold commercially. Although this aspect may work, the feasibility is still questionable.

Lawmakers should set a clear boundary for laws, rather than proposing something incomplete. Without clear boundaries, proposed laws might be unnecessary, impractical, and potentially misused.

*Le Tran Quynh is a founder of the car culture forum Otofun, and a former automobile industry reporter.