ICO Response to DVLA complaint on GDPR compliance (After 4 years wait)

Coupon-mad

I think so too.

abedegno

Interesting - does that render all of the processing by DVLA for the last 4 year unlawful? 🤔

tacpot12

I am strugggling to see how releasing data is in the public interest when the only beneficiary is a private parking company! I would accept that it is in the public interest in relation to on-street parking, but not for parking on private land.  In my opinion the exemption that allows the DVLA to release data to allow civil claims to be made was poorly drafted. If it had restricted the release of data only in cases where the data controller wanted to make a civil claim (and needed to, for example, releasing data to their solicitors), then that would have been fairer, but to allow the DVLA to release its information so that ANYONE can make a civil claim seems to go to the heart of what the purpose of the DVLA is. 

Sandtree

tacpot12 said:

I am strugggling to see how releasing data is in the public interest when the only beneficiary is a private parking company! 

To play devils advocate...

Many carparks are legally public spaces even if privately owned because the public have "free access" to them. Its generally in the public interest that these spaces operate correctly so that, for example, disabled spaces are available for disabled users and aren't all taken up by some random person deciding they'd be a great place to permanently park their fleet of old bangers. 

Part of the reason why the masses generally dont overstay or use a disabled space when not entitled is the threat of penalties if they do. If it was such that no one was ever able to take any enforcement action against anyone (try calling the council about an abandoned car... we lost our parking space for 2 months) then chaos would ensue and these public spaces would cease to operate properly. 

Coupon-mad

No, it really wouldn't. That  'carmaggeddon' speculation has been laughed at for years.

Chaos would not ensue and it's not the threat of a penalty that stops most drivers from getting a PCN.

Most never even see the signs and have no idea of any maximum stay.

Also ANPR (the most popular cheap method of what PPCs call 'management') doesn't protect accessible bays at all.  People don't park in them because most drivers are courteous and want to do the right thing.

Sandtree

Coupon-mad said:

Chaos would not ensue and it's not the threat of a penalty that stops most drivers from getting a PCN.

Most never even see the signs and have no idea of any maximum stay.

So in a pay and display car park, why do most people bother paying at all? Do you think the majority of people need to read the board in a pay and display to know if there would be consequences for paying for 1 hour and staying 6 hours?

Half_way

Sandtree said:

Coupon-mad said:

Chaos would not ensue and it's not the threat of a penalty that stops most drivers from getting a PCN.

Most never even see the signs and have no idea of any maximum stay.

So in a pay and display car park, why do most people bother paying at all? Do you think the majority of people need to read the board in a pay and display to know if there would be consequences for paying for 1 hour and staying 6 hours?

I know of a pay car park with no machines, just a slot in a brick/ stone structure, and another car park when off season / winter there is an old pay and display machine that doesn't issue tickets
When ive been to those most people pay, there is no chaos , and it all seems pleasant and smooth running without a PPC meddling in things

Coupon-mad

So in a pay and display car park, why do most people bother paying at all? 

Same reason that 'honesty box' car parks work:

https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/cornwall-beach-car-park-sets-7087172.amp

As I said, most drivers want to do what is right and will read instructions and park courteously. There are loads of retail parks and business sites (even city centre ones) that operate very well without any scum PPC rip offs and no restrictions.

We all know it's a good British trait to queue, do as instructed and generally do right by others. Most drivers do.  Drivers are not rogues who set out to take the Mickey, despite how the BPA and IPC like to paint it.

It's utter balderdash, a consumer blame culture that the Govt is well aware of and can see through, now. 

Do you think the majority of people need to read the board in a pay and display to know if there would be consequences for paying for 1 hour and staying 6 hours?

I think - in fact I know, due to doing this for 15 years - that the vast majority have absolutely no idea what the 'penalty' might be (nor even that there might be one) because tariff boards don't include the parking charge in anything like the same huge text as the parking fees. Often the parking charge is not even displayed at all, near the point of sale.

People read the nearest board and machine instructions.  None of which tells them (in large text, or at all) about any repercussions.

They pay the fee.  They go about their lives.  Getting a PCN is not 'agreed' nor a risk they knowingly take. They pay the fee just like they would pay for anything in a shop.

It is laughable that PPC World pretends that parking charges are a deterrent.

They are a money-making scam.

abedegno said:

Interesting - does that render all of the processing by DVLA for the last 4 year unlawful? 🤔

That's what the class action from Keller Lenkner will be saying, I expect. It does look that way.  Needs publicity.

Are you thinking of sending that ICO email out to national newspaper city/finance/consumer reporters?  I would.  This needs airing.

Look for articles written about DVLA data/parking, to find the right journalists.

Also Martin Lewis at his ITV email.

Half_way

Lets not forget that once there was a time before ANPR and anpr linked cameras and there was not widespread chaos.

Another comment on here that if true is damming said that its harder for the police to get RK data than it is for a PPC.

 

And on that note theres also the issue of who can access your data

Police and staff with access to data are required to complete an enhanced DBS check (AKA CRB)  as well in most cases a course on GDPR and data protection responsibilities likewise with Hospital staff, as well as those who work with or volunteer with charities and can access member details.

However what protections are in place in PPC land? at the very least all staff, and that includes all owners and managers etc  should have a clean enhanced DBS/CRB check free from any adverse issues.

 And if a staff member has an adverse DBS then they should not be allowed any where near a location where personal data is available / can be requested, likewise with owners/bosses that should be a straight red card for their ability to obtain RK data .

 And if an owner/senior manager has a criminal record then that would be the end of that company and any associated company having access to DVLA data

It can only be a matter of time before RK data is abused, judging by how freely the DVLA allows access to it

Mouse007

The problem is parking enforcement has evolved from reasonable parking management to an industrial scale nationwide scam. It has spread from areas of need to places where it is not required at all.

The tactics and methods used are designed to confuse and entrap. Victims are pursued  thereafter by a systematic campaign of intimidation.

Millions of vulnerable drivers are paying out of fear or apathy, either unaware they have been conned or unprepared to fight back.

Why on earth do any supermarket or out of town retail car parks need parking management? There is nothing else to do other than park, shop and/or eat and drink and go - as quickly as I can because I have better things to be doing elsewhere. These car parks are often big enough and rarely full. I have never been unable to park in one, ever.

In hospital and hospitality and residential car parks it is more often than not the bona fide visitors who are being charged..

The shear number of minor, absolutely trivial, breaches being reported here day in day out by genuine customers is testimony to the scale of the problem. A problem created by abusive scam private parking companies not selfish people parking without just cause.

There never used to be all these hidden terms and conditions. It is for one reason and one reason only, to make profits by scamming people. Everyone from the landowners to the retailers to the victims is being conned by parking management companies about a very minor problem - the few selfish people who abuses car parks. Most don’t.

None of this is in the Public Interest.

The Data abuse has allowed this to happen and I so hope the DVLA is made to pay up for a very serious breach of GDPR