Car driving at night in a city
A car drives at night in a city.

If you are using dashcams to monitor employees and customers, you need to be careful.

A recent finding from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada offers good guidance, not only for companies operating in the Great White North but in the United States as well. (Think CPRA, CPA, UCPA, VCDPA and CTDPA.)

Here are some key points:

  • Audio recording is sensitive. If you don’t have to, don’t do it.
  • If you are doing audio recording, don’t do it when the vehicle is idling and the driver may be on a break/off hours.
  • Limiting the recording to just clips triggered by events is a good way to mitigate risk, but query whether they should be triggered when the vehicle is idling.
  • The dashboard of the dashcam videos should only be accessible by those who actually need access.
  • You must inform the employees clearly of the uses for the audio and video data, including “disciplinary purposes and for terminating the employment relationship.”

Read more here.