[lordrayden]

I recently installed a dash-cam in my car and as part of setting it up, was going though all the settings, tuning and tweaking them. One of those settings was the option to enable/disable audio recording. The first thing that came to my mind when I saw that option was, "Why would anyone even want to record audio from the car's cabin, isn't it a breach of privacy?". I know that the audio recording should stay on the local SD card, but it still makes me uncomfortable. For me at least, it seems down to human beings not wanting to be spied on, which always-on audio recording feels like. Anyway, I immediately switched off audio recording (meaning, I put it in mute mode).

I do realize the irony of talking about privacy when it comes to dash-cams, a device meant to capture videos of all the people around me without their consent. But all those people ARE out in public, so its not a private situation in the first place, unlike the inside of my car car. Just as the inside of my house is considered private, and the outsides are not.

A little later, I googled this specific topic of dash-cam audio recording and most of the reasons I found supporting audio recording could be put into the following buckets:
1. To record verbal interactions with cops or others outside the car.
2. To record sounds that might indicate something about events happening outside of the camera's field of view.
3. To record commentary/descriptions spoken by occupants for things that may not be present/clear in the video (like number plates, car make/model, etc).

I was somehow not convinced though.

I thought it will interesting to know other enthusiasts' opinions on this as I don’t see this discussed all that much. Please do contribute to the poll and post about your views on dash-cam audio recording.

[GTO]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

Voted for no. Have way too many confidential personal / business conversations in the car either on the phone or with my passengers. Don't know where the SD card could end up one day.

In the rare occurrence that something with a 3rd-party needs to be recorded, I'll record it on my smartphone.

[clevermax]

I record audio all the time. There is a special use case too - if you doubt whether or not the camera correctly captured the number plate, you can read it aloud so that you at least know the number of the offending vehicle that just went past.

[sagarpadaki]

Used to keep audio on earlier. Now it is off. Main reason is privacy. I do not want anyone to hear what I/We are talking in the car.

Added benefit is that more duration of video can be recorded.

[Rajeevraj]

Have always kept it mute. Primarily because lot of conversations happen in the car and in general it is a place where you can have any kind of discussion without worry of anyone overhearing. The SD card can also get misplaced, lost or even stolen at anytime. The benefits of keeping it on are also minimal. So it is a no brainer for me.

[ramnaresh_2000]

It was by default on and I left it on deliberately. My car is driven mostly by me. If someone is driving my car I am sure it would be my friend's or family which rarely happens. I keep it on in case of accidents or unwanted interactions with traffic cops.

Coming to privacy concerns, doesn't it mean if someone is entering my car has to adhere to my rules and regulations? My rule is I keep audio on, if you have concerns about it don't use my car. Just kidding. My safety concerns outweigh any privacy concerns.

[Pequod]

It’s a good feature, but me and wife have way too many personal/familial discussions in the car - some of which could lead to disaster and discord if it ended up in the wrong family member’s hands

So, always mute for me.

[malim]

Voted No due to breach of privacy.

1. The legal standpoint aside, it seems to me that anyone entering my vehicle has a reasonable expectation of privacy, and to violate that would require explicit consent from each passenger every time they board. I car pool regularly and this would very quickly become impractical.
2. Anything recorded always has a non-zero risk of falling into the wrong hands. I would assume that I would be liable if such an occurrence caused harm to any of the people whose voices were recorded.

All in all, the cost-benefit analysis simply doesn't work out.

[IamYogi]

Originally Posted by Pequod

It’s a good feature, but me and wife have way too many personal/familial discussions in the car - some of which could lead to disaster and discord if it ended up in the wrong family member’s hands

So, always mute for me.

I second what you said. If what I talk with my wife ends up in the wrong hands of family member, especially in the hands of the person who will be always waiting to pin you down. OMG I don't want that to happen.

I always keep it muted. Also I'll regularly format my memory card, so that even the video recording doesn't ends up in a place where I do not want it to.

[yashg]

Muted. It used to be on early on, didn't see any additional benefit of it. It would only pickup the conversations in the car, which apart from being a privacy issue won't add anything to the "evidence" in case needed.

[5haS_0209]

I always have the audio on for the exact reasons you have specified. Because in case of any incident/accident there must be audio proof. It always is better to keep the audio on in my opinion even though you have private conversations/ important business calls. My simple solution for breach of privacy is I format my SD card once I'm back home safely. I do this everytime I take my car out. It might be fussy at first but you'll get used to it.

[RedTerrano]

Considering I have put up a dashcam for cases where the footage might need to be given to the authorities in case of accidents, I voted no.

The car is like a second home, where we take privacy as a given and openly express our views. No need for this to be broadcast to the whole world.

[pavi]

I voted no, as I am not comfortable with the private conversations being recorded. Although I see one benefit of enabling the audio recoding, this happened to me in real once. Let's assume a case of accident where some biker hits you even though you turned on the indicators well in advance. Right after the incident you might have swerved to the other side just to avoide further collisions, which caused the indicator lights to turn off. In this situation, as by Indian standards 'a biker is always the better soul', you would not able to make the people understand 'you are not at fault'. But a recording along with the indicator lights 'blinking sound' would be helpful to prove your innocence.

[dvr08]

Would be a NO from myside. As others have pointed out, I would not like to put any of my personal conversations in jeopardy.

Not sure how relevant it is, but I feel there is another disadvantage of having audio recordings. Taking out SD card, anyone can access these videos. Anyone who has a driver or lets others drive their cars, need to be careful!

[rishi.roger]

I would vote in favor of recordings.
The choice whether to have private conversations in a car is upto us. But Ideally when I am driving on the road, I am under impression that I am on a public area and therefore anything I do or say has a tendency to be recorded or captured by anyone. I avoid having any sensitive or private conversations in public space as such.
Besides, if I do intend to have such a conversation then there's a Button in my DVR that allows me to quickly disable audio from it/mute.
There are lots of benefits of having audio recorded in Indian roads where we are threatened and harrased, at times capturing conversations that are life saver.