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Comment by matte_black | Hacker News Reader

This is standard practice at most dealers now.

You do NOT need video surveillance of your vehicle while it’s being repaired.

Why not? You're not allowed in the bays for "safety reasons" and numerous times covert recording devices have found shady business practices. Workers routinely have monitoring software on their workplace computers. Car dealerships are notorious for ripping people off. You're also not allowed to destroy someone else's property, which the video was, and you're definitely not allowed to go through someone else's property.

As an employee, you consented to be monitored at work by your employer when you signed your workplace agreements. The mechanic has not.

However, destroying the video files is inappropriate.

Set expectations. Tell them you're going to do it, and when they offer for you to take your business elsewhere, tell them too.

The problem is doing it in secret.

I am vaugely inclined to agree, but wanted a deeper argument... And I tried to express that and came up blank. Plenty of places of work have an expectation that the customer can come and go or simply stay while you work on their property - any home repairs, of course, but even cell phone repair shops will typically do it in front of you. Why not mechanics? There are strict laws already around what a mechanic does have to show you - you are able to request that they give you back any parts they replaced, for example. I don't see the issue if with a dashcam that's set to record while driving. Their tests seem reasonable things for you to observe.

I was initially with you, but on thought, why? This is worth arguing.

Why not? Can’t you imagine a scenario in which something happens to your car in the dealerships custody that you’d like to have video footage of?

Can't you imagine not wanting to be recorded while at work?

That's a two way street...

I can imagine not wanting to be covertly recorded but I would like the ability to record my mechanics work. I’ve been burned more than once.

Would cameras inside the car have really helped in that instance? I know most of the interesting work that has ever been done on a car for me would have been impossible to see with a dashcam.

I could see the value of being able to see someone working on your car, but only in the situation where it was explicitly agreed to beforehand. A) the employee has privacy rights, and B) if you really wanted footage that helped, you'd need to have cameras setup outside of the car, which would require help from the car shop.

I can't imagine wanting to be a mechanic in a shop that recorded me for the customers (I assume that there are cameras in place for security anyway). But I could see this being a real differentiator for a new auto shop -- You can trust us - you can watch us work on your car!

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