MPs will next week discuss the lack of a legal framework surrounding the growing trend of installing dashcams in vehicles and their potential use as evidence in cases of accidents or other cases.

Personal data protection commissioner Irene Loizidou Nikolaidou said recently that there was a point of confusion when it came to dashcams.

She said there was currently no Cyprus-specific legislation regulating the system as there is in other EU member states, to the point where they are not deemed legal or illegal.

As it stands, insurance companies do not accept footage of dashcams, even if they illustrate evidence related to an accident, she said.

Next week’s House transport committee meeting will not be the first such discussion on the topic but previous ones had not led to any legislation.

Green Party MP Stavros Papadouris told Phileleftheros on Tuesday the matter needed to be clarified.

Based on his proposal, dashcams should be optional for drivers and in cases where there is an accident that the footage can be used before the courts.

Papadouris said there was currently a legislative gap and that there would be an issue of personal data when it came to dashcams. He said the personal data commissioner had been invited to the meeting next week.

The goal was not to violate privacy, he said. But camera footage would simplify procedures following an accident and indeed other incidents captured on film, even encounters with police.

“Cameras can clarify the landscape when opposing claims are made,” he said, adding that cameras on motorcyclists’ helmets work in the same way, recording testimony that can be used in court.

“The recordings should be used as evidence and not for other purposes,” he added.

He also commented that many cars were fitted with dashcams even without them officially being legal. Many drivers do it to protect themselves in case of an incident involving another party such as when their cars are parked or when someone tries to damage or break into their vehicle or try to steal it.