Taxi Driver Online

A HUNDRED cab drivers have signed a petition against controversial plans to film all conversations in Oxford’s taxis.

They have handed the petition to Oxford City Council over its plan for video and audio recording in the city’s 665 taxis from April and comes as the Information Commissioner continues to review whether the scheme is lawful.

The council says that the scheme would provide greater safety for both drivers and passengers.

Petition organiser and private hire driver Khalil Ahmed, 51, said: “The overwhelming view is that the taxi drivers are against the cameras.

“To me it is an invasion of my, my family’s and my customers’ privacy and our safety.”

The High Wycombe part-time driver said customers are against the plans.

He said: “They do not want their privacy invaded.”

The recordings could only be accessed on request by police or council licensing officers for a specific crime or licensing issue, the council has said.

The plans, approved last year, were backed by the City of Oxford Licensed Taxi Cab Association, which was not available for comment.

Yet Mr Ahmed said: “There are enough laws, there are enough safeguards and there are enough CCTV cameras in Oxford as it is.”

Firms record where the fare was picked up and dropped off and any telephone numbers for security, said Mr Ahmed.

He said drivers are prepared to “chip in” to challenge it in the courts.

Cab firm boss Kevin May lost a legal challenge against Southampton City Council, which is running the same recording system, in December. A district judge said he did not have the power to throw out the plan but said he considered it unlawful and it could be heard at the High Court.

Part-time taxi driver Mohsin Cheema, 30, said: “Most of our local customers are saying they will feel uncomfortable with someone watching them.”

Recording will start when the key is turned in the ignition and stop 30 minutes after it is turned off. Systems must be in place by March 2015.

Clark Brundin, chairman of the council’s hackney carriages and private hire licensing sub committee, said: “The original request for having audio visual recording came from the Hackney carriage and private hire people.

“You might find a single isolated private hire driver who doesn’t like the idea but the companies are keen these should be in cars.”

But the Information Commissioner will have the final say, he said, adding: “I can’t tell you absolutely positively that it is going to go ahead.”

Commissioner spokesman Greg Jones said: “We don’t feel that audio recording is necessary all the time.”

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/headli ... taxi_CCTV/

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

The Guys are bonkers. CCTV will increase their safety immeasurably.

Audio Recording, at all times, is a 'sine qua non' to me. Had I had 'full time' Audio Recording, I would have been able to successfully sue the little Oik that threatened me with a knife, without, I have no proof as we could not find a knife.

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Don't dream it ~ Be it.

I wonder if their concerns are less about the council and more about whether other organisations might have access to the recordings or just they are afraid the council might find out about what they are up to. If you are anti CCTV that generally means you have something to hide

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Maybe Mr Part-time is worried that the social might find out exactly what he works and earns.

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IDFIMH

And there was me thinking the T&G had won it, or should I say Ko'd it.

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IDFIMH

They were successful in getting that license back for the cabbie who had sex with a passenger though.

http://www.thisishampshire.net/news/488 ... ie_s_life/

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/distric ... d_proper_/

CC

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

They are worried about the normal things associated to having CCTV installed like an investigation by the HMRC to see how much they are earning.

Would that be allowed under the terms of the CCTV usage?

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Grandad,

Oh yes.

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IDFIMH

I am not so sure. The recordings can only be looked at for specific crimes and licensing issues. The specific crimes would have to be listed and I would think that the list would only include crimes conected with passenger or driver complaints.

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Grandad,

The police can request CCTV images for anything, and depending on the CCTV licensing criteria, anyone else can.

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IDFIMH

Most CCTV Systems only hold a couple of hundred hours of Records before the CCTV begins to overwrite the previous files. It's not as though HMR&C could look at, say, 6 months of Transactions.

One of our regular gripes is that we are being undercut by Drivers from Foreign Parts, frequently Unlicensed. CCTV could, potentially, make this abuse of the System, history.

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Don't dream it ~ Be it.

Its the recording that people do not want not cctv itself . how many times has someone got into your taxi
and spoke about their private life ,shared a problem to gain some advice .knowing that they are recorded would put them off and also change customer /driver relationship. I actually had a private conversation on the phone with my Dr in my car with audio recording it would have been on record , potentially for someone else to listen to if they demanded . god knows how many bodies can demand the information if they so desired.

As for refusing to have it installed ,that you must have something to hide . Nonsense that is usually the only answer fascists regimes come up with.

Knowing that your car was set for recording, surely then, if you had a private call to make, you would make it elsewhere.

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Grandad,

Cab driver told cameras plan will happen


A driver campaigning against controversial plans to record all conversations in city cabs has been told the system is here to stay.

Oxford City Council told Khalil Ahmed, pictured, that most drivers support the camera plan and it was vital to improve safety.

The Oxford Mail reported on Tuesday that Mr Ahmed had secured 100 drivers’ signatures opposing the scheme.

It comes as a former taxi chief says he believes an increasing number of drivers are now opposed to the plans.

Council licensing leader Julian Alison told Mr Ahmed in a letter: “The argument relating to ‘privacy’ is not so relevant in this matter.

“Once a vehicle is licensed, the level of privacy expected is not the same as for a private motor car.”

He said the scheme – to record audio and sound as soon as the ignition is switched on – was requested by drivers.

Mr Alison said: “Any concerns raised have been discussed and resolved.”

As more than 900 drivers are licensed to drive the city’s 665 taxi and private hire vehicles, he said the petition did not represent the views of most.

Recordings would only be accessed by council officers over a “specific incident” and sound is needed for evidence of antisocial behaviour.

And he said recordings will also help tackle breaches of council codes for drivers.

He said: “Unfortunately, the level of non-compliance (with driver codes) is of great concern, and exceeds one incident each day.”

Supporters also say recording will provide vital evidence for passenger allegations against drivers.

But Mr Ahmed, a part-time private hire driver for 001 Taxis in St Aldate’s, said the response showed “disdain” for drivers’ views.

He said: “There is a big, big majority of opinion against this. It is not just drivers who are saying it, it is members of the public.”

Former City of Oxford Licensed Taxi Cab Association general secretary Alan Woodward backed cameras when they were agreed last year.

But he said: “Once they (drivers) realised what it involves, they are not interested.”

The £400 cameras must go in new cabs after April 1 and be fitted in all by March 2015.

Richard Barlow, a private hire driver for 001 Taxis said he would get a system this year. The Kidlington resident said: “I’m all for it. You will get more passengers, women will travel more.”

Yet he said recordings should start when meters are activated, rather than the engine.

During his 35 years working on and off in the city, he said he suffered minor attacks three times and passengers had “occasionally” refused to pay.

He said: “What have they got to hide? I’d rather have my safety than anything else.”

The Information Commissioner, the UK’s official data watchdog, is in talks with the council in a bid to force a u-turn on the CCTV plans.

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/953935 ... r/?ref=rss

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin