Paul Roth
Taxi security camera footage could be televised to help
nab criminals who have travelled in a cab, a University of
Otago legal specialist says.
Prof Paul Roth yesterday said nothing in the proposed rule to
make cameras compulsory in taxis prevented police using their
images in non-taxi related investigations.
If police believed an offender used a taxi, they could use
the data to help develop their case, Prof Roth said.
They might also publish the image to help their
investigation, so video of someone suspected of committing a
crime elsewhere could be run in the media.
"The police will still operate within the usual rules of
investigation," he said.
"But broadly, the purpose of the rule is to tackle crime, so
using data from the cameras for investigations into events
outside a taxi would be fine."
Public consultation on the rule closes tomorrow.
The rule was introduced as a way to combat increasing rates
of serious crime committed against taxi drivers.
There were 677 assaults against taxi drivers in the decade to
February.
Since 2008, two drivers have been killed on the job.
The cameras will be compulsory in 19 major urban areas
including Dunedin, Queenstown, and Invercargill.
Prof Roth said the draft rule did not give taxi companies
open access to the data the cameras will collect.
They would only access the data to delete it, or to meet a
request for personal information under the Privacy Act.
Data had to be deleted no more than 14 days after the image
was captured, unless a complaint was likely, there was a
Privacy Act information request, or the police needed it.
The Taxi Federation has signalled it wants designated taxi
company staff to have access to the images recorded from
inside their company's cars.
Assistant Privacy Commissioner Katrine Evans said companies
would have to ensure their customers knew they were being
filmed for security purposes.
The Privacy Commissioner supported the idea of limited access
to the information.
The rule is expected to come into force February 1 next year.
Taxis already operating will have until August 1 to install
cameras.
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