FIA: EU data protection rules mean drivers control who accesses their car data

FIA Region I has just released a legal study exploring how the upcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will apply to connected car data.
June 28, 2017 Read time: 2 mins

8054 FIA Region I has just released a legal study exploring how the upcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will apply to connected car data.

Since most car data can be associated to the registered owner of the vehicle, it qualifies as personal data. According to a recent ruling from the European Court of Justice, data qualifies as personal if it is in the hand of any party that can obtain sufficient information to identify the user. Vehicle manufacturers, who can easily identify vehicle owners, should therefore treat most vehicle data as personal data.

The GDPR protects the portability of data, meaning that citizens may change service providers. This principle applies to car data as well, which means that there should be a choice about who accesses car data and for what purpose. However, without clear legislation on the latency (or delay of delivery) and format, data portability could be compromised as, realistically, third-party service providers may struggle due to delays and unreadable data to provide equivalent services with vehicle manufacturers.

The European product liability and product safety legislation do not justify extensive monitoring of real time car data for vehicle manufacturers.

FIA Region I director general, Laurianne Krid, said “This legal memorandum shows us what the European Data Protection Regulation can and cannot do, when it comes to car data. While it grants users certain rights, we still feel that specific legislation is needed to ensure innovation, choice and ultimately create value for connected vehicle users.”

The study findings were disclosed during a debate in the European Parliament hosted by MEP Ismail Ertug on ‘Autonomous Driving and Data: Access, Ownership, Security’. The legal observations complement the My Car My Data campaign run by FIA Region I, which aims at raising awareness regarding connected vehicles and the use of data.

For more information on companies in this article

FIA

Related Content

  • Oregon tests new mileage-base charging scheme
    August 5, 2013
    Jack Opiola from D’Artagnan Consulting LLP explains Oregon’s latest moves which mandated a trial of mileage-based road use charging. In 1919, Oregon made the 20th century’s most significant contribution to transportation funding policy, becoming the first state in America to implement a gas tax to pay for roads. This summer Oregon’s Legislature passed, and Governor John Kitzhaber signed into law, Senate Bill 810 which requires a distance-based road usage charge for 5,000 volunteer vehicles by 1 July 2015. T
    Read More
  • Predicting the future for video camera systems
    March 12, 2012
    Jo Versavel, Managing Director of Traficon, talks about near-term trends in video camera systems. Jo Versavel starts by making one thing clear: long-term forecasts as to what the future holds for video-based traffic monitoring are to all intents and purposes meaningless. The state of the art is developing so fast that in reality it's impossible to say where we'll be in 10 years' time, says the Managing Director of Traficon. In his opinion making firm predictions even five years out is too ambitious, whereas
    Read More
  • Car-sharing operators move to smartphone-based car access systems
    November 27, 2015
    New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, Strategic Analysis of the Vehicle-sharing Technologies Market, finds that the global car-sharing user base will reach 26 million members by 2020. Car-sharing operators (CSOs) in North America will lead the way in terms of technology deployments, followed by Europe. To meet the growing demand, partnerships among CSOs, technology companies and original equipment manufacturers will gather pace. Over the years, vehicle-sharing technologies have evolved from simple manual
    Read More
  • ITS industry needs more effort to get to the future
    January 19, 2012
    Eric Sampson, visiting professor at Newcastle University and City University London and ambassador for ITS-UK, provides a retrospective on the last couple of decades and takes a look at what the ITS industry still needs to do to get to where it needs to be
    Read More

Highlighted Content