Skip to main content

Data protection - a road-block for driverless cars?

A new report by international law firm Gowling WLG warns that autonomous and connected vehicle manufacturers will need to get their head around new European data protection rules if driverless cars are to become a reality. Published just two years before Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force, the report, Are you data driven? explores the latest issues in data protection and driverless vehicles and what they mean for consumers, featuring input from leading experts across the
May 27, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
A new report by international law firm Gowling WLG warns that autonomous and connected vehicle manufacturers will need to get their head around new European data protection rules if driverless cars are to become a reality.

Published just two years before Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into force, the report, Are you data driven? explores the latest issues in data protection and driverless vehicles and what they mean for consumers, featuring input from leading experts across the automotive industry.

Carried out on behalf of the UK Autodrive self-driving vehicles project, the report examines how data protection regulation developments will affect innovations in the development of driverless vehicles. This comes at an important time for the UK automotive industry as the country strives to become a global hub for the development of autonomous and connected vehicle technologies. The testing of driverless vehicles in the urban environment is due to start later this year.

Data protection presents challenges and opportunities that need to be explored and discussed as autonomous technologies become more of a feature on our highways. With only 15% of people feeling in control of their online personal data, and 80% of people not reading privacy notices, this white paper questions whether the industry is being helped or hindered by data protection regulation? And how will the General Data Protection Regulation influence the sector's progress?

Stuart Young, head of automotive at Gowling WLG, summarises the situation: "Vehicle manufacturers are going to have start thinking like social media providers - like the Google and Facebooks of this world. They will need to employ all the tools they use, like privacy notices and location-based consents, and be very aware that data protection compliance should not be taken lightly."

Related Content

  • February 27, 2013
    The move towards shared telematics platforms
    Is the end for dedicated, in-vehicle telematics systems now in sight? Some seemed to think so at the recent Telematics Munich 2012 conference… Geoff Hadwick reports. Forget smartphone apps – leave that sort of thing to Apple and Google,” Roger Lanctot, associate director of the global automotive practice at consultancy Strategy Analytics told more than 700 delegates in Munich last month at the Telematics Munich 2012 conference. They are a waste of time and money, he said. Forget putting too much data on das
  • February 29, 2016
    Will driverless cars increase reliance on roads?
    Researchers warn that driverless vehicles could intensify car use, reducing or even eliminating promised energy savings and environmental benefits. Development of autonomous driving systems has accelerated rapidly since the unveiling of Google’s driverless car in 2012, and energy efficiency due to improved traffic flow has been touted as one of the technology’s key advantages. However, new research by scientists from the University of Leeds, University of Washington and Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
  • April 7, 2017
    Ertico weaves tunnel visions into the ‘big picture’
    As he takes the wheel at Ertico - ITS Europe, Jacob Bangsgaard talks to ITS International about the challenges and opportunities facing the organisation and the ITS industry. Ertico - ITS Europe’s new CEO, Jacob Bangsgaard, is no stranger to the organisation having spent five years there before moving to the FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) in 2006. Four years later he became director general of the FIA’s Region I (EMEA), which represents more than 100 mobility clubs, and in 2012 he joined Er
  • April 7, 2017
    Ertico weaves tunnel visions into the ‘big picture’
    As he takes the wheel at Ertico - ITS Europe, Jacob Bangsgaard talks to ITS International about the challenges and opportunities facing the organisation and the ITS industry. Ertico - ITS Europe’s new CEO, Jacob Bangsgaard, is no stranger to the organisation having spent five years there before moving to the FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) in 2006. Four years later he became director general of the FIA’s Region I (EMEA), which represents more than 100 mobility clubs, and in 2012 he joined Er