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Attack on DVLA ‘information piracy' |
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Wednesday, 16 January 2008 |
SNP MSP Christine Grahame has called for a major review of the way in which the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency shares information with private concerns like parking and insurance firms.
Grahame says there are no checks on how such information is used by the companies after it has been passed over, amounting to what she described as ‘information piracy’ by the DVLA.
According to figures obtained by Grahame, there has been a 54 per cent increase over the past five years in the numbers of sets of driver and vehicle information passed over to private parking and insurance firms. This means that over 5.3m drivers have had their details passed to such firms by the DVLA since 2002/03.
Grahame said:
“I have been contacted by a number of constituents who were falsely sent fine notices by private parking enforcement companies threatening them in a manner which left my constituents frightened and intimidated. These companies obtained personal information by making a simple application to the DVLA who, in my view, recklessly disclosed personal details that led to my constituents being falsely sent fine notices. Many of these private firms are extremely difficult to contact and fail to operate fair and independent appeals processes. In all the cases I have dealt with it has subsequently emerged that incorrect fine notices were issued by the company. But these have only been successfully challenged after extensive and time consuming representations made by me on behalf of my constituents.
“The DVLA claim that under existing laws anyone with “reasonable cause” can obtain personal information about drivers and their vehicles, regardless of whether they subsequently misuse that information to send erroneous fines to drivers. The reckless disclosure of personal driver information by the DVLA amounts to information piracy by a major government agency holding millions of records on private individuals.”
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