Cabbies told not to post taxi CCTV film online

TAXI drivers who post footage from in-car security cameras on the internet have been warned they will lose their licence.

It comes as a scheme to film taxi passengers is expected to be approved by City of Edinburgh Council next week in an attempt to help reduce abuse and violent assaults in the capital.

But fears have been raised over taxi drivers breaching data protection laws, with some critics calling for the recording files to be retained by police or council officials.

All black cab and private hire drivers will be able to ask for the right to place cameras in their vehicles, but individuals will have to meet the cost of the equipment and installation.

Under council guidelines, drivers will be responsible for keep- ing any images secure, or risk fines or licence suspension if they breach the Data Protection Act.

The council has warned them not to upload any images to social media as a ‘condition of licence’. This means cab drivers posting the material online could have their licence suspended and have difficulty i n being awarded a renewal.

Anyone investigated by the Information Commissioner and found to have broken the Data Protection Act could also be fined up to £500,000.

On Thursday, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) warned that unrestricted audio and video recording in taxis could fall foul of the rules.

An ICO spokesman said: ‘While CCTV can be used in taxis, local authorities must be sensible about the extent to which they mandate its use, particularly when a u di o re c o r di n g is involved.’

Gavin Barrie, convener of the council’s regulatory committee, said: ‘If the committee approves plans to allow cameras to be installed inside taxis, any footage taken would be held by the taxi operators under the terms of the Data Protection Act.

‘This means that it cannot be made public and would only be reviewed by the council, Police Scotland, or the cab inspector in the event of an alleged incident.

‘If anything was released into the public domain, that would become the subject of a report to the committee. I would suggest the committee would take an extremely dim view of this.’