A heat dissipation control apparatus includes a vehicle condition detection device for detecting an operating condition of a vehicle, an occupant detection device for detecting whether an occupant is in the vehicle, a temperature detection device for detecting a temperature of a data recoding unit mounted on the vehicle, a heat dissipation device for dissipating heat from the data recording unit, and a control device for controlling the heat dissipation device in accordance with the detected temperature of the data recoding unit, when the vehicle is in a stopped condition, the data recoding unit is in operation, and no occupant is in the vehicle.