Fleets could fall foul of recent data protection law under driver licence changes, warns LICENCECHECK

Fleet managers asking employees to give consent, allowing access to their driving licence records, could inadvertently find themselves on the wrong side of the law, in the confusion surrounding the upcoming abolition of the licence paper counterpart.

“There are just too many unanswered questions at the moment,” explains Richard Brown, managing director of leading licence checking and monitoring company LICENCECHECK. “The elimination of the paper counterpart was intended to remove red tape but, at the moment, the tight deadlines and practical difficulties of managing such change is adding to fleet managers’ woes – as if they didn’t have enough to think about already.”

Under the recently enabled Section 56 of the Data Protection Act 1998, employers are prohibited from forcing workers to  supply ‘Subject Access Reports’ containing information on criminal history and investigations conducted by the police and authorities. Such information, if required, must now be obtained through agencies set up for criminal record checks.  The change in law is intended to prevent discrimination surrounding elements such as spent convictions that could be seen on a Subject Access Report.

However, recent concerns raised by fleet operator organisation ACFO queried whether requiring employee drivers to sign a mandate allowing access to their driving licence record could amount to an offence under Section 56(1).

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has clarified that this will not be an offence provided the DVLA’s recommended procedures are followed.

He continues: “It seems that for the driver’s consent to be effective they need to understand why the information is being requested by the employer, what it will be used for and the possible consequences.  Will a busy fleet manager understand the need to carefully explain all this to the driver in these terms and at this level of detail?

Wider implications for rental industry

This issue may also have wider implications for other motorists, including individuals who wish to hire a car, insure a car or even volunteer drivers.  Currently they are typically required to produce their licence counterpart. However, in the future, when the DVLA records are the only source of data, if such people are required to sign a mandate for a DVLA check, the organisation requiring them to do so could fall foul of Section 56(2) which makes it an offence for anyone providing goods, services or facilities to make a person supply or produce a “relevant record” as a condition of providing that service. 

“After all, they are being required to agree to a disclosure of endorsements and points as a condition of hiring the car,” explains Richard.  “The ICO didn’t make reference to this offence in the statement to ACFO so questions remain about its interpretation and enforcement. While it is highly unlikely that an organisation following standard industry practice will be deemed to have committed an offence, in the absence of guidance, the boundaries remain unclear.”

Press contacts

Rachel Burgess – rburgess@torqueagencygroup.com or 020 7952 1076

Matt Sanger – msanger@torqueagencygroup.com or 020 7952 1079

About LICENCECHECK

LICENCECHECK was founded in 2008 and has established itself as a leader and innovator in the licence verification industry. LICENCECHECK founder and managing director Richard Brown, has spent over 30 years working in various sectors of the motor trade before developing the LICENCECHECK brand.  LICENCE CHECK Ltd is a fully registered member of DVLA Electronic Driver Entitlement Checking Service (EDECS) and a founder member of The Association for Driving Licence Verification (ADLV). LICENCECHECK’s customer service satisfaction is rated at 4.9 out of 5 by its customers.

In line with the company’s growth strategy LICENCE CHECK has again seen a huge growth in business during Q1 of 2015 by 345% over 2014, while it has recently appointed a new commercial director, Terence Hiles, to help manage growth in current services and new product lines.