There are few technology topics with such a clear legal contradiction in the Portuguese landscape as that of cameras installed in vehicles.
Dashcams sell in large numbers across Europe as protection tools in the event of an accident, and modern cars come from the factory equipped with increasingly sophisticated camera systems. Yet Portuguese law has stood still on the matter.
The National Data Protection Commission (CNPD) has a clear position and does not hide it. Capturing images on public roads from cameras installed in vehicles is illegal.
At the same time, Portuguese courts admit those recordings as valid evidence. This is the reality every Portuguese driver has to deal with — a grey area that the law has yet to resolve.
Dashcams, Sentry Mode, and the law that failed to keep up with technology
The CNPD’s position is based on Article 19 of Law 58/2019, which implements the GDPR in Portugal, and establishes that cameras may not point at public roads, neighbouring properties, or areas that are not under the exclusive control of the person responsible.
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For the CNPD, a dashcam recording continuously while driving on the road is capturing personal data — number plates and faces — without consent, which constitutes a violation.
Several data protection specialists disagree with this interpretation. The GDPR does not apply to data processing carried out by a natural person in the course of purely personal or household activities, and recording the road for personal use, without sharing the footage, may fall within that exception.
The consensus among legal experts is that recording is not prohibited — sharing without consent is. Footage may and should only be shared with authorities, courts, or insurers when necessary.
In practice, what seems most relevant is the distinction between two modes of use. With the car in motion, dashcam recording for personal use sits in a tolerated grey area, with Portuguese courts accepting the footage as valid evidence.
With the car stationary in surveillance mode, the situation is more problematic — and this is where the law applies most clearly, because the camera is functioning as a fixed video surveillance system pointed at a public road.
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This is precisely where Tesla vehicles enter the picture in a particularly interesting way. Sentry Mode — Tesla’s native surveillance mode that keeps the cameras active when the car is parked, recording any suspicious activity around the vehicle — was expressly cited by the CNPD as unlawful in Portugal.
From a legal standpoint, a Tesla parked on the street with Sentry Mode enabled is doing exactly what the law prohibits: continuous video surveillance of a public road by a private individual.
The paradox is that Tesla vehicles are type-approved to circulate in the European Union, and Portugal cannot prohibit the circulation of a car certified at European level. The cameras are part of that type approval.
Having the cameras in the car is legal; using them to systematically record a public road is not — and the responsibility lies with the driver, not the manufacturer. In the Netherlands, where the matter was examined by the data protection authority, the conclusion was precisely that. Legal responsibility for the recordings falls on the vehicle owner.
The most glaring contradiction, however, is the fact that Portuguese insurers accept Sentry Mode and dashcam recordings as valid evidence in the event of an accident or vehicle damage.
The law says recording is illegal, while the judicial and insurance system uses those recordings without raising any objections. It is a clear signal that Portuguese legislation may be out of step with the technological reality of dashcams and equivalent technologies, and that a review of the legal framework is not only necessary but urgent.
So can I or can’t I use a dashcam in Portugal?
The honest answer is that it depends on what you do with it.
Installing a dashcam in your car is not illegal. Using it while driving for personal protection in the event of an accident sits in a grey area that most specialists consider tolerated, provided you do not share the footage publicly. If you need to use it as evidence with an insurer or court, you can do so.
What is clearly problematic is activating surveillance mode with the car parked and filming a public road, sharing videos on social media with identifiable faces or number plates, or systematically collecting recordings with no specific purpose.
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In the case of Tesla vehicles, the logic is the same. The car may have the cameras, but enabling Sentry Mode on a public road puts the driver in breach of the CNPD’s position. Responsibility always lies with the owner.
In short: use the dashcam to protect yourself, keep the footage only for as long as necessary, do not share it without a valid reason, and be aware that Portuguese law has yet to catch up with the widespread use of this equipment. Until it does, the grey area is the territory in which every driver with a camera in their car operates.
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