UAE Police: There’s now an exception for mobile recordings in public without a person’s consent

Dubai: A senior police official has confirmed that residents can take videos of others without facing legal repercussions as long as the recordings are only used as evidence as part of a police case file.

Speaking at a virtual meeting held on the Ministry of Interior’s social media account, Lt Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim, Deputy Chairman of Police and Public Security in Dubai, explained the various features of the app e-Police in your Mobile, which was launched by the Ministry of Interior (MOI).

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The e-police service is available on the Ministry’s smartphone app 'MOI UAE'.

Lt Gen. Tamim confirmed that individuals can report crimes and harassment on the highway by taking video clips with their mobile phone solely for documentation purposes, which can be sent to police stations across the country through the ministry’s app. However, he stressed that under no circumstances should the video be uploaded, posted or shared on social networking sites.

“The complainant has the right to record a video and send it to police without incurring legal responsibility for filming, even if it is without the knowledge of the other party, as it is included as part of the evidence in the case file. These types of videos will not be considered as defamation as long as the video clip is not published on social media,” explained Lt Gen Tamim.

During his session as host of the online program ‘Ask the MOI’, Lt Gen Tamim pointed out that the police e-services are available to residents in all emirates across the nation, and provides residents a method to report complaints either by text, video or voice recordings.

He further confirmed that the complainant is not required to enter his personal data as the details would have already been confirmed through the ID card when registering to use the app’s services.

The application also allows individuals report all types of cases, ranging from murder to theft and lost items. As for traffic reports, especially in serious traffic accidents, drivers can call the operations number directly to report traffic accidents.