Technology Policy for Company Fleet Cars
As fleet managers, do you have a Technology Policy for your company fleet? In days past, when drivers handed back company cars it was easy. Empty the glovebox and boot and check all the sidepockets are clear and that nothing had fallen down the sides of the seats or underneath the mats. Job done. Nowadays, with the amount of technology used by fleet drivers , a cleanout should apply to hard drives as well as hard surfaces. The subject is reported in this week’s Automotive Industry Digest .
Company Car Data & Hard Drives
Drivers are ultimately responsible for erasing personal data from their car before handing it back to the leasing company, rental company or dealer, says the VRA(Vehicle Remarketing Association), which says master hire agreements should inform customers of their obligations.
The technological evolution of satellite navigation, phone kits and entertainment systems means every day more personal driver information is stored on a car’s hard drives, from their entire phone book to personal addresses. However, frequently drivers fail to erase the data before handing the vehicle back.
To protect members from passing on a driver’s personal data when they sell a car the VRA is recommending a series of measures to adopt to help avoid possible consequences of passing on a driver’s personal details and the risk of contravening the Data Protection Act. They are:
- Ensure that wording is included in customer contracts and master hire agreements informing their customer’s drivers of their obligations
- Signed confirmation must be received by the vehicle owner as part of the vehicle de-hire process that all data has been removed from the vehicle
- Action ‘Delete All’ or ‘Factory Reset’, or similar functionality as part of their remarketing process before a car is sold
- Encourage individual companies to conduct a Privacy Impact Assessment
Do you have a “technology” policy in place for when your fleet vehicles reach the end of their use at your company? Is it something you will add to your policy document?