Dash cam do you switch off

[TheFoX]

There will come a time when Dash Cams will come as standard, or will be a requirement of your insurance company, so I think that everyone should get used to the idea that our cars are mobile CCTV recorders.

You can specify 360 degree camera for most modern Mercs, so it won't be long before you will be able to specify or install a recording device for these devices. making them even harder to disable.

As technology improves, so does the implementation. Most modern cars can now connect via the internet to a base, including mobile upgrades.

In a few years time, all modern cars will be able to tell the Police or insurance companies who exactly was at fault.

Big Brother is finally here, and there, and everywhere.

 

[GLK]

For what it worth, nice chaps at Mercedes Northampton just wave at the camera and get on with their [always professional] work. Not once have I had my cameras touched, in five years.

 

[190]

As I understand it, under the data protection act you have to inform people if they are going to be recorded in a place of work. That goes as far as informing staff and visitors that a place of work has CCTV for security purposes. Dash cams might fall under the same legislation.

 

[whitenemesis]

A simple note on the dashboard?

 

[Lotiman]

I had a dashcam in my car during some work at a well known MB dealer. This was ongoing work and I had very good reason not to trust what they had been telling me. The dashcam was powered by its own battery and was hidden on top of the dash by a pair of gloves sitting on top, so couldn't easily be seen.
Boy was I glad I fitted it too as it provided me with the evidence needed to prove the dealers were attempting to royally screw me. It also showed just what a lazy, unprofessional individual the fitter was too and just how long he spent sending and reading text messages on his phone instead of working. It was amusing to see him keep ducking down in front of the car, nervously looking up, presumably to where his foreman was, whilst using his phone.
I really don't care about any privacy nonsense and honestly believe that if the workshop has nothing to hide, then they shouldn't be concerned about being recorded.

 

[TheFoX]

Considering how much labour charges are, surely texting on a mobile when they should be working is fraud.

As for the rights and wrongs on recording video and audio, one could argue that if the mechanics were above board, then being recorded wouldn't affect them, and that if they disconnected your camera, then this could be construed as hiding something.

I'd like to think that if it took them three hours to do a job, and I was paying labour charges for three hours work, that they would be working the full three hours, and not stretching an hour job by texting or talking on their mobiles.

As for Data Protection, if the device is your personal device, and not for business use, then it doesn't come under the Data Protection Act, even if it is at their place of work. You could still use the evidence recorded should a transgression be committed, but your recordings are not covered by the Act.

On saying that, there is a moral issue of informing the staff that you have a recording device running, and ask whether they want it disabled or not for the duration of the session. On saying that, if they decide to disable it, they should inform you out of courtesy as well, and not assume it is their right to tamper with you car outside the remit of the work they are expected to do.

 

[whitenemesis]

One is always charged the book time for a job as a minimum. So even if it only takes 1hr to change engine mounts, which it does, you will be charged the 4hrs WIS says it should.

Technicians will always find a more efficient way of doing a job, to the benefit of the dealership. This is one of the reasons it's often cheaper at an independent, not only is the labour rate lower they pass on some of the time savings too.

Disconnecting the dash cam saves the service manager awkward questions?

 

[brucemillar]

As with all these things the "morals" argument is questionable. "he who casts the first stone"

As for recording and announcing it? My understanding is that this would only apply "after the fact". Or in plain speak - If you decided that you wished to use the footage as evidence then a defense would/could possibly argue this was done without permission and therefore not admissible as evidence.

Fraud for sending a text? I would think not. There could always be perfectly good reason reason for doing so and any employer may struggle to to employ people if they attempted to get that into a contract. They could argue that it is an H&S issue and simply ban all phones in the work place. But I would guess that somebody would argue why that is not achievable.

Bottom line for me is: I take all my cars to my trusted Independent Garage (Wright Tech). A family business, Andy cares about what he does. If he screws up he loses out. So he makes sure that he is unlikely to screw up. Or put simply: I TRUST HIM.

 

[Lotiman]

As an employer of people in a factory, I do think continually using a phone to send and receive text messages when they should be working must be considered fraudulent. It became such a problem in my factory, I eventually banned the use of mobile devices during working hours, apart from break periods.

After showing the dealer principal some of my footage, he was staggered by just how much time his fitter was wasting on his mobile device and not concentrating on his work. It's a real curse in the modern workplace and if cameras are necessary to stop it, then so be it.

For the dealers fitter to disconnect a dashcam is quite unforgivable in my view and I would have to seriously question their motives.

 

[brucemillar]

My other thought on my view that I will only to a garage that I trust..

I try and live like this. For this reason I do not have a camera in my bedroom and nor would I wish to ever have to think that I should require one. I trust my wife. She doesn't check my phone, she trusts me. Where do we draw the line? I would say it is at that trust level and once the trust is gone or cannot be established then it's time to move on.

I have no issue with Dash Cams but I'm uncomfortable with them when they become "spy cams". If I found one in my work place? I would unplug it and happily tell the owner why I had done so. That is me and I am not saying the OP is right or wrong. I just feel that sometimes we see what we should not have seen and hear what we wished had not heard. We can limit this by trust.

 

[Lotiman]

My other thought on my view that I will only to a garage that I trust..

I try and live like this. For this reason I do not have a camera in my bedroom and nor would I wish to ever have to think that I should require one. I trust my wife. She doesn't check my phone, she trusts me. Where do we draw the line? I would say it is at that trust level and once the trust is gone or cannot be established then it's time to move on.

I have no issue with Dash Cams but I'm uncomfortable with them when they become "spy cams". If I found one in my work place? I would unplug it and happily tell the owner why I had done so. That is me and I am not saying the OP is right or wrong. I just feel that sometimes we see what we should not have seen and hear what we wished had not heard. We can limit this by trust.

I understand your sentiments, but trust is a two way thing. I like to think I am a trustworthy person and likewise would always rather trust people to do what I am paying them to do, whether as an employer or a paying customer. When, however, there is good reason to believe that trust has been betrayed, then I see nothing wrong with using a camera to prove or, indeed, disprove that belief.

I actually don't have a problem with cameras in the car, workplace or street and still believe that if you are doing nothing wrong, you have no reason to fear them.

As for the idea of cameras in the bedroom though, all I can say is

 

[sc3992]

My car, my camera. You have no right to mess about with equipment that doesn't belong to you. Touch it and I will take action.

Mr Mechanic, you have been paid to service my car, so service it properly othwise I will use the footage from the camera to demand my money back.

If you don't service my car correctly, and I still have to pay for a job you have failed to carry out correctly, then I will use the footage on social media to warn others and I will take you to court to get my money back........

That is fair in my books.........

 

[supermonkeyman]

Use some epoxy to glue the cable in?

 

[GLK]

In my, very humble opinion, the security and privacy argument is completely negated by the huge glass wall, separating the workshop from the customer waiting area at my local main dealer

 

[renault12ts]

My car, my camera. You have no right to mess about with equipment that doesn't belong to you. Touch it and I will take action.

Mr Mechanic, you have been paid to service my car, so service it properly othwise I will use the footage from the camera to demand my money back.

If you don't service my car correctly, and I still have to pay for a job you have failed to carry out correctly, then I will use the footage on social media to warn others and I will take you to court to get my money back........

That is fair in my books.........

What action? Sue the garage maybe?

 

[Jay2512]

I too have a dash camera fitted, well pretty much hidden as I've built my mobius unit into the car trim. However I have left the ability to unplug the unit at the 12v socket.

When sending the car for service I let the service manager know that the unit is there and should they wish they have permission to unplug it.

On some occasions they have unplugged the unit and others not bothered. I appreciate that the dealers "may" have sensitive equipment or other people's vehicles that they may not wish to be recorded.

Some may remember last year I rejected my S205 after numerous faults, however this was made much easier with the dash cam footage as the for 1. The camera recorded most if the issues live as they happened both in my hands and those of the dealer tech, 2. The service tech aired a few choice words about the vehicle pretty much admitting it was screwed & then a few comments about me the customer (I won't disclose this)

Anyway to wrap up the camera helped both me & the dealer (believe it or not) as MB without hesitation took the car back. As for the comments caught in the video, myself and the dealer at that point had a sensible conversation understanding the frustration of a problem car and came to a reasonable conclusion.

 

[sc3992]

What action? Sue the garage maybe?

Name and shame the garage and make a big point to them that they are being paid to service the car, not to mess with things that they don't own.......

If they aren't doing anything wrong, then what have they to worry about?

And please don't give me that rubbish about invasion of privacy, what about my right to have my property left as is?

And to have a service carried out professionally, efficiently and cost effectively?

After all, it's the customer who pays their salary and they aren't owed a living............

 

[TheFoX]

We live in a world where monitoring us is commonplace. We visit the bank, and get recorded. Our places of work will probably have CCTV protecting the premises (obviously not spying on workers, but deterring intruders). Even our homes are now getting CCTV protection.

So, why shouldn't our cars also have this protection? Now don't get me wrong. I abhor those idiots who install Dash Cams purely for the purpose of uploading imagery to social media for the shear hell of it, or to make fun of other road users (we can all make mistakes), but anyone who installs a Dash Cam for the purpose of protecting their second most valuable asset (your home being your first) should be respected for taking positive action to record actual events as they happen.

How many times have the criminal class got away with a transgression because it was their word against ours? My supervisor was run off the road by a drunk driver who had been banned from driving and held no insurance, yet when the Police arrived, his passenger stated that he was driving. Even though my supervisor identified the actual driver who had caused the crash, there was no corroborating evidence, and the criminal got away with it. Had my supervisor installed a Dash Cam, this would have been enough to secure a conviction, and probably give the criminal a custodial sentence.

Dash Cams are not fitted for fun. I don't enjoy having this plastic box dangling from my windscreen. I have it dangling because I don't want to find myself in the position where I am challenging someone who is dishonest. I have already used it once, when a white van smashed in to my driver's mirror, and the driver and his mate accused me of ramming them. The Police reviewed the footage on my Dash Cam and realised that my vehicle was stationary, meaning it was unable to have ripped the mirror from the white van. The white van driver had to concede that he was in the wrong; something he vehemently denied at the time of the crash when he threatened to ram his fist in to my face if I didn't take responsibility for ramming his works van.

With this in mind, dealers need to understand why we install Dash Cams, and respect that decision. If the mechanics wish to take our pride and joy for a test drive at speeds approaching the limiter, causing the collision prevention to kick in multiple times, or service our vehicles with their genitals dangling out of their pants, then they have to accept that our vehicles are going to record it. If they keep it clean, and respect our vehicles, they have nothing to fear.

Many, like me, probably never ever review the footage caught on our cameras, simply leaving them to run continuously until the time the footage is actually needed, such as in a collision.

So, next time you have your car serviced, if they have disconnected the Dash Cam, question if they have been abusing your car, or whether they have been performing illicit sex acts in front of the disabled Dash Cam.

(My mechanic always leaves me a cheeky message whenever he services my car, as a joke).