Dashcam in the condominium courtyard: privacy limits

A dashcam used while driving to document road traffic is generally lawful, but when the car is parked in the condominium courtyard and the camera keeps recording in surveillance mode, the situation changes. If the device permanently films the common courtyard, the other vehicles, neighbours walking by and their behaviour, it is no longer documenting driving but surveilling a shared space, and the processing falls under Regulation (EU) 2016/679, with obligations and liability on the person carrying it out.

The concrete case

An owner installs a dashcam with a parking function: as soon as it detects movement in front of the car stationed in the common courtyard, it records. The field of view includes the neighbouring parking spaces, the pedestrian entrance and owners passing by. A neighbour, realising they are filmed every time they walk past the car, objects to the continuous surveillance. It must be understood whether that use is allowed.

Driving and parking: two different situations

While moving, the dashcam films the road scene dynamically and occasionally, to protect the driver in case of accident. Prolonged parking with recording active turns the device into a fixed camera watching a defined area. This difference is decisive: in the first case the use may fall within a legitimate personal purpose, in the second it approaches the permanent video surveillance of a common space, which is not at the individual owner's disposal.

The household exemption does not cover the common courtyard

GDPR does not apply to processing for purely personal or household activity, but this exemption does not cover the systematic surveillance of common spaces or areas used by others. The condominium courtyard is a common part under Article 1117 of the Italian Civil Code and is used by all owners: filming it continuously with a private device exceeds the household sphere of the installer and subjects the processing to ordinary rules, including legal basis, information notice and retention limits.

• Allowed: recording the driving scene while in traffic
• Delicate: recording while parked framing only your own car
• Avoid: permanently filming the parking spaces and others' movements
• Forbidden: surveilling the whole common courtyard like a fixed camera

Proportionality and configuration

Anyone wanting to protect their car from damage while parked should aim for minimal intrusiveness: frame only the vehicle as far as possible, reduce the angle, limit recording to actual events rather than a continuous stream of the whole courtyard. Keeping images only for the strictly necessary time and protecting access to them completes the precautions. Systematically filming neighbours' plates and movements, by contrast, is not proportionate to a personal protection interest.

When the condominium decides

Surveillance of the common courtyard, if deemed necessary, is for the condominium, not the individual. The meeting can resolve to install a video surveillance system on the common parts with the majorities set by Article 1136 of the Italian Civil Code, appointing the condominium as data controller, with information signs, a notice and defined retention times. This is the correct channel to protect everyone's cars, avoiding individual initiatives that surveil neighbours.

Practical advice

• Disable parking recording if it frames common or others' spaces
• Propose a condominium system at the meeting if courtyard security is needed
• Do not use the dashcam to monitor neighbours' movements
• Delete unhelpful footage and protect access to the data

The consequences of improper use

Continuous surveillance of the courtyard with a private device can lead to a complaint to the data protection authority, a request to stop the processing and a claim for damages by neighbours filmed without justification. The solution is not to give up protecting the car, but to choose the right tool: a targeted configuration for parking or, if broad coverage is needed, a system resolved by the condominium.

When video surveillance concerns the common parts, resolutions, notices and communications must be handled in an orderly way. With AmministraPro the manager records the meeting's decisions in the minutes, distributes the privacy notices and communicates with owners traceably: the features are described on the /funzioni page and the plans on the /prezzi page.