V16 emergency beacon Website is now active

I received a message from a rather militant Spanish friend of mine claiming the V16 were illegal - I’ll sanitize and post translated version here:

“The V16 beacon is illegal. This link to the Policias por la Libertad (Police for Freedom) website explains how to download and fill out the appeal form if you are reported: https://youtu.be/VzXA-qLzqLM”

Now I have no idea about this, but it is an interesting take.

So, apparently, once you activate the V16 beacon in your Spanish-registered car, it can show up on public maps — potentially visible to anyone with the right gear, including thieves or rogue grúas. 

Sounds like a privacy nightmare, right? In reality, the signals aren’t magic; you need the right equipment to pick them up, and they’re mostly meant for safety and emergency situations. 

Still, it’s a trade-off: the new beacon is supposed to protect you, but it also broadcasts your position to anyone who’s paying attention. For most drivers, the safety benefits probably outweigh the risks, but it’s worth knowing that your car’s location isn’t entirely private once that little device is on.

Seems dodgy to me.

It might not break data privacy laws, since individuals can’t be identified from the data on map, but publicly disclosing the locations of broken down vehicles might allow unscrupulous people to easily locate vulnerable motorists.

Hopefully the authorities have done a proper data privacy impact assessment.

You’d *think* that being how Spain really pushes GDPR compliance (ask me … I have to jump through hoops for my GDPR compliance) it would be hoped that these V16 beacons do comply.  I mean the idea is great - you break down and authorities know where you are.  But I saw a story on a GC page about a motorist who forgot to deactivate his V16 and was tracked a couple of hundred kilometers … pretty amusing for a breakdown to travel so far (and no, he wasn’t on the back of a Grúa - he got going and simply forgot to switch V16 off when he chucked it in the boot)

Interesting, but would the battery last that length of time ?

I have read some interesting comments on a Uk based camper forum regarding the use of this beacon along with some updates from the DGT

Stay safe

Mike

Interesting that you’ve read it on a UK Camper forum as UK reg vans and cars are not obliged to use the V16 beacon

Drove on A7 to Salobren̈a and back over weekend. Came across 4 different incidents along the way of cars stopped on side of motorway.  1 had no V16 but triangle was out. 1 had nothing at all and 2 had V16 and no triangles. I personally found that the V16 lights were not exactly " in your face" with brightness. Admittedly it was daylight hours and I'm sure it would be more noticeable at nite. Personally I would if safe to do so put out triangle also especially in day time.

The Guardia Civil have already voiced their concerns about Illegal Gruas and other forms of illegal activity surrounding broken down vehicles and the V16 identifying these vehicles, more so at night time.

Hopefully no one ever has to use a recovery service, but if you do and you’re in any doubt about the grúa, don’t use it. Simple.

I’m a member of RACE, which has a mobile recovery app and English-speaking agents. They’ve been excellent whenever I’ve needed help. Once I had a broken windscreen and another time a breakdown—on both occasions a tow truck arrived in under half an hour.

Each time, the driver called me beforehand, identified himself, and gave me an accurate ETA, which was very reassuring.

I know that if you have a Spanish-registered car and insurance here, they should offer a similar service, but the one time I relied on my insurance company it took nearly two hours for assistance to arrive.

So, for me, joining RACE has been well worth it for the peace of mind alone.