SAR - Excel parking - Connect Cashless App

pablotoon19

Just an update for this thread for anyone who is in a similar situation. I’ve had a reply to my SAR showing the details of a “failed payment” on the connect cashless parking app covering the time of the alleged offence. I have evidence from bank statements that this was not a failed payment and payment was taken from the bank account. 

I have made this point to them, but I expect this to be ignored. Regardless they are in a no win position for any future court action and I look forward to making them look foolish.

LordYaffle

Hi, can you help me at all? I submitted a SAR to Excel wanting all relevant data to my case and the logs from the Connect app. I received only the copies of the letters they have sent me and this reply.

Dear Sir/Madam 

With reference to your request for a copy of your personal data held on our system in-line with GDPR legislation; please find enclosed a copy of the information held.

 

Photographic evidence and data is held on file in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and is used for the sole purpose of pursuing settlement of a Parking Charge. We comply with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulations to uphold your rights to Privacy. Our Privacy Notice gives clear reasons for why, from where, and how we obtain and use your Personal Data, under what circumstances we may retain and share your data with third parties and for how long that data may be retained. 

 

Please be advised that an SAR is a request for data that is personal to you, this does not include app install times, login times and activity requests.

Is the bold line correct? Long story short, I used the app to pay, the app said session had started, the app never took my payment, now im awaiting my court date. Can they really refuse to give me the app data which would prove me authorising the payment? I made the same request to my banking app to get the time I approved the payment in my banking app with no such problem.

I replied that the app data is personal to me therefore they have 30 days before I complain to the ICO

Nellymoser

Excel have now abandoned the Connect Cashless app at this car park.

https://www.thestar.co.uk/business/consumer/excel-parking-pay-meters-reinstalled-after-outcry-at-broomhill-sheffield-car-park-but-price-trebles-4908272

Le_Kirk

LordYaffle said:

Hi, can you help me at all? I submitted a SAR to Excel wanting all relevant data to my case and the logs from the Connect app. I received only the copies of the letters they have sent me and this reply.

Best way to help you is to advise you to start your own thread

pablotoon19

Nellymoser said:

Excel have now abandoned the Connect Cashless app at this car park.

https://www.thestar.co.uk/business/consumer/excel-parking-pay-meters-reinstalled-after-outcry-at-broomhill-sheffield-car-park-but-price-trebles-4908272

Thanks very much for sharing this. I’m awaiting the results of another SAR for them to admit they received the payment, despite the bank evidence showing this.

RogerW_3

The app has not worked at all for a long time and if you manage to read the message (with a blue background) that it deliberately shows for just a nano second at the bottom of the screen (to try and stop people using it to get Excel claims struck out - so that deliberate act is possibly assisting fraudulent false parking charges/court claims) it was unable to process card payments last year. They will find it very difficult to convince a judge who is shown a screenshot and they would need to present representative of Connect Cashless as one of their witnesses (they will probably be unwilling) If you are very quick you can get a 3 finger screenshot by anticipating when the screen message is about to appear. No location found appears if you do a location search. Same if you input the car park location code. But they have not changed their car park signage at car parks and still have the app QR code as a payment method. That violates their IPC Code obligations as they are responsible for ensuring that their technology system works and their signage is not misleading and they are prohibited from using a payment method that they must be aware does not work to lure or mislead drivers into incurring parking charges (it is a very simple task for them to use a sticker to cover the non-working app QR code at all car parks so they have no excuse for failing to stop luring drivers into using it. Misleading information is also a misleading action that violates consumer protection regulations and is unlawful. Very obvious that Excel should be pursuing a court case against Connect Cashless for failure of its app to work properly or process card payments and that it should not be issuing PCNs. They may even have done that which may explain why the app no longer works at Excel Car Parks and the app search button can find no Excel car park locations. Excel are quite possibly fraudulently issuing PCNs and filing court claims to obtain money from motorists by deception at the same time as claiming the same unprocessed tariff from Connect Cashless. That will not impress any judge. They would be wise to discontinue a very large number of claims.

RogerW_3

The duplication between Apcoa and Connect Cashless may be because they both use Judopay and your card transaction payment data is being processed by Judopay and that may also be why the card transaction (which is a Judopay task)  problem message appears in the Connect Cashless app. 

If it is Judopay that actually processes the payment (and based on a dummy transaction that I did some time ago when the connect app still had car park locations and bank app credit card transaction confirmation info that mentions JUDOPAY within the name of the receiver account, then that is probably the case) then the answer to an Excel SAR request must tell you that it is Judopay, a third party that is processing your data before Judopay contractually transfers payment received to Excel or Connect and then possibly Connect transfers money to Excel.

 Excel should be telling you about that third party  Judopay use of your personal data.

Maybe also check the Connect Cashless app and see if it even mentions in the terms and conditions that your data will be passed to a third party Judopay because if the app does not tell you that then both Connect Cashless and Excel may be violating data protection laws.

 If the Connect Cashless app card payment transaction failed to work properly, Excel will also need to present a representative of Judopay as a witness to evidence otherwise.

Excel will always try to deceive people by making a lot of effort to hide facts known to them and pretend they are not responsible for the third parties that they employ.

 I think they are going to be in a right pickle if these app provider/payment processor matters are put on the table in a Defence or Defendant witness statement. Another matter that is likely to give them no option but to discontinue because if they lose a case the floodgates will open.

 They cannot use their third party excuse simply because a contract must exist between them and the app provider/primary payment receiver, without which Excel could not receive payment, and the IPC Code specifically states that they must ensure that technology is fit for purpose and maintained and agents/subcontractors etc carry out their duties professionally and in compliance with all laws.

That potentially effectively means that they can be put to strict proof to provide a copy of Excel/Connect/Judopay contract agreements to evidence that they could actually receive any tariff payment whatsoever in order to evidence a valid cause of action. They will not want any defendant to see those agreements because there will be penalty clauses applicable if the Connect/Judopay technology fails to process payment, so game over because that will open the floodgates of struck out claims.

RogerW_3

The following is a webpage for transaction failure problems that Judopay has observed. It may help people get parking charges withdrawn/claims struck out 

https://judopay.statuspal.io/incidents