In June last year Edinburgh City Council reported that committee councillors had agreed to the installation of CCTV into private hire and hackney taxis.
Combatting Crime
Taxi crime is becoming more and more of a common occurrence and CCTV systems are being used by various councils throughout the UK to combat the problem. The decision by Edinburgh City Council to give the go-ahead was made in order to improve the safety and wellbeing of taxi drivers, as well as the service users.
Council Holds No Responsibility
At the time of the committee meeting it was also declared that the council would not act as the data controller for the vehicles and it would wholly be the responsibility of the drivers themselves.
“It was a good idea, in theory but sadly it has failed in practice.”
As such, sources at one of the cities private hire firms said that this detail “made the whole thing a non-starter” and resulted in just 10 applications being made for forward-facing cameras and absolutely zero applications for internal CCTV systems.
The source added: “Our drivers simply cannot afford the time and money that it takes to learn how to be a data controller.
“You would then have to factor in the expense of dealing with the system and making any images available to those who need to see them.
“It was a good idea, in theory but sadly it has failed in practice.”
Lack of Demand
A council spokesman said they were surprised by the lack of demand after the initial request for CCTV was made by cab drivers but a member of a major taxi firm in the capital said that he blamed the council for not taking ownership of the scheme or putting in place a legit data protection system.
He said: “The forward-facing cameras have been installed by a few drivers because you can get a discount from your insurance company if you have them.
“The CCTV cameras are a different matter altogether. They’re a great idea but no driver I know really wants to take responsibility for data protection.”
A disappointing result for what could have been a breakthrough in taxi safety. Who do you think should be taking responsibility for data protection? Let us know by clicking the link below.