DVLA FOI request for complete list of cars I have owned

datostar

AndyMc..... wrote: »

If they are not on the dvla database then the dvla won’t have the information to give to the op.

So do you have a point?

Yes, already made, you have just repeated it.

TooManyPoints

Back to the original post, the OP presumably doesn't know the registration numbers of all the cars he has ever owned.

No he obviously does not. That is exactly what he wants the DVLA to tell him:

I would like to know what information the DVLA holds on me, in particular, every car I have owned (at least 20) and when, just because I cannot remember some of the registrations and would like to look them up.

The information they hold on him is simple: they hold details of his licence (classes of vehicle he is permitted to drive, etc.); his driving record (endorsements, disqualifications); and his current address (so far as he has told them). That is about all they hold on him.

They also hold details on vehicles. They do this by registration mark. They hold details of its current registered keeper and the address of the keeper (so far as he has told them). There is some other stuff as well which need not concern us here.

The problem for the OP is that there is no link between these two sets of data. There is little doubt that somebody who knows their way round the DVLA database (and who has the appropriate level of access, the time and the inclination) might be able to trawl their way through it to find out, perhaps by addresses the OP might provide, of vehicles historically registered at those at those addresses (though the success of that would depend on how long they retain the data). But it is something, I would suggest, they would not be prepared to do.

AndyMc.....

TooManyPoints wrote: »

No he obviously does not. That is exactly what he wants the DVLA to tell him:



The information they hold on him is simple: they hold details of his licence (classes of vehicle he is permitted to drive, etc.); his driving record (endorsements, disqualifications); and his current address (so far as he has told them). That is about all they hold on him.

They also hold details on vehicles. They do this by registration mark. They hold details of its current registered keeper and the address of the keeper (so far as he has told them). There is some other stuff as well which need not concern us here.

The problem for the OP is that there is no link between these two sets of data. There is little doubt that somebody who knows their way round the DVLA database (and who has the appropriate level of access, the time and the inclination) might be able to trawl their way through it to find out, perhaps by addresses the OP might provide, of vehicles historically registered at those at those addresses (though the success of that would depend on how long they retain the data). But it is something, I would suggest, they would not be prepared to do.

So what do they do with that information when you’re no longer the keeper? The freely send previous keep details to the new keeper.

TooManyPoints

So what do they do with that information when you’re no longer the keeper?

I've really no idea. But it wouldn't help the OP. He wants a search on his name to find vehicles he kept.. The DVLA does not record information by keepers, it records information by vehicles. Their database is designed to identify keepers from vehicle details. (The "Primary Key" will be the Registration Mark, not the Keeper). It is not designed to identify vehicles from keeper details. If you asked for a list of keepers of vehicle AB12CDE they could do it. If you asked for a list of vehicles owned by Fred Bloggs they almost certainly couldn't (or at least not without an intricate data mining exercise which they would probably not be prepared to undertake).

There's an easy way to settle this and that is for the OP to get in touch with the DVLA and ask them. The FOI Act did not place an obligation for public bodies to provide any and all information which anybody might want from them. There are exceptions which exclude that which would be difficult or expensive for them to obtain.

mgdavid

jimjames wrote: »

........ You can get a full listing of PAST (my edit) owners of a car - I've done it for several classics I've owned which go back to mid 1980s. ......

I'm fairly sure there's been a recent change in policy due to the new EU-imposed data protection legislation and they don't give this info out any more.

TooManyPoints

You can get a full listing of PAST (my edit) owners of a car - I've done it for several classics I've owned which go back to mid 1980s.

.

Which helps the OP (or helps to answer this question) not one jot. He wants a list of vehicles he has kept, not a list of owners of a specific vehicle. Let's concentrate, chaps!

As I keep trying to explain, the DVLA can tell you lots about the relationship between a specific vehicle and its Registered Keepers because that is the way they organise their data. They cannot tell you much about the relationship between a specific Registered Keeper and the vehicles they have kept because that's not the way they organise their data.

AndyMc.....

TooManyPoints wrote: »

I've really no idea. But it wouldn't help the OP. He wants a search on his name to find vehicles he kept.. The DVLA does not record information by keepers, it records information by vehicles. Their database is designed to identify keepers from vehicle details. (The "Primary Key" will be the Registration Mark, not the Keeper). It is not designed to identify vehicles from keeper details. If you asked for a list of keepers of vehicle AB12CDE they could do it. If you asked for a list of vehicles owned by Fred Bloggs they almost certainly couldn't (or at least not without an intricate data mining exercise which they would probably not be prepared to undertake).

There's an easy way to settle this and that is for the OP to get in touch with the DVLA and ask them. The FOI Act did not place an obligation for public bodies to provide any and all information which anybody might want from them. There are exceptions which exclude that which would be difficult or expensive for them to obtain.

You can search their database by address and it will return vehicle that way. You think you know how their database works but you clearly don’t.

TooManyPoints

You can search their database by address and it will return vehicle that way. You think you know how their database works but you clearly don’t.

Yes I daresay that such a query will return any vehicles currently registered at that address. But that's not what the OP wants. I doubt it will return all vehicles ever registered at that address which, incidentally, is also not what the OP wants. (Hence my "let's concentrate remark). He wants all vehicles ever registered to him which would mean (if the query could return all vehicles ever registered at an address) he would have to provide all his earlier addresses.

No, I don't know exactly how the DVLA database works but having spent many years managing teams who undertook, among other things, data mining of this type, I have a pretty good idea.Once again, I'm not saying what the OP wants is entirely impossible (though it may be if historical information is not retained). I'm saying that the DVLA's standard querying facilities won't do the job and such a request would almost certainly be refused on the grounds of "too difficult and thus too expensive". But I'm quite happy to be proved wrong.

AndyMc.....

TooManyPoints wrote: »

Yes I daresay that such a query will return any vehicles currently registered at that address. But that's not what the OP wants. I doubt it will return all vehicles ever registered at that address which, incidentally, is also not what the OP wants. (Hence my "let's concentrate remark). He wants all vehicles ever registered to him which would mean (if the query could return all vehicles ever registered at an address) he would have to provide all his earlier addresses.

No, I don't know exactly how the DVLA database works but having spent many years managing teams who undertook, among other things, data mining of this type, I have a pretty good idea.Once again, I'm not saying what the OP wants is entirely impossible (though it may be if historical information is not retained). I'm saying that the DVLA's standard querying facilities won't do the job and such a request would almost certainly be refused on the grounds of "too difficult and thus too expensive". But I'm quite happy to be proved wrong.

It can be done, it won’t be but it’s possible.

sevenhills

TooManyPoints wrote: »

There is little doubt that somebody who knows their way round the DVLA database (and who has the appropriate level of access, the time and the inclination) might be able to trawl their way through it to find out, perhaps by addresses the OP might provide, of vehicles historically registered at those at those addresses (though the success of that would depend on how long they retain the data). But it is something, I would suggest, they would not be prepared to do.

The DVLA will just tell the OP where to go, as people asking questions are an unwelcome cost.