It’s not just Oxford City Council‘s plans to install recorders in cabs that has people concerned. Wu Yiyao reports that similar systems are already in place in China:
Wide debate has arisen over the video cameras and sound recorders that have been installed in as many as 6,000 taxis in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province.
Critics say the devices infringe upon privacy.
But Xu Hong, director with the Nanjing passenger transportation management office, said they are in fact meant to protect the safety of drivers and the rights of passengers.
The cabs’ recorders will run 24 hours a day and their cameras will be able to take eight pictures a minute.
The sound recordings will be stored in a data collector inside the taxis while the images will be transferred using a global positioning system to the police and to transportation management authorities. If a taxi driver feels endangered, he can press an emergency button that will make the camera start recording uninterruptedly and then send a report to the police.
Read more on China Daily.
I think that should be mandatory for all taxis.