Vehicle tracking offers numerous benefits to private vehicle owners and to fleet operators and employees. Tracking vehicles can help improve the safety of people and assets, boost operational efficiency, and reduce fuel consumption and costs. However, there are car tracking laws in the UK that you should familiarise yourself with, especially if you want to make the most of your trackers while keeping everything above board.
We’ve put together a comprehensive guide to help you stay on the right side of the law while reaping the benefits of using vehicle trackers.
Is It Legal to Track a Car?
While it is legal to track a car in the UK using a solution such as Crystal Ball’s car tracking system, vehicle tracking is not a free-for-all. Due to privacy concerns, GPS vehicle tracking in the UK is regulated mainly by the Data Protection Act, the Human Rights Act, and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The relevant rules and regulations make it clear that tracking vehicles comes with certain rights and responsibilities. You need to understand the responsibilities and rights that come with using car trackers if you want to comply with these rules and regulations and safeguard personal privacy. Failure to comply with vehicle tracker laws in the UK can result in hefty fines and convictions.
Car Tracking Laws in the UK
To fully understand car tracking laws in the UK, it’s important to consider the various acts they’re derived from.
The Human Rights Act
Article 8 of the Human Rights Act relates to the individual’s right to privacy and confidentiality of personal information. This is especially relevant for fleet operators and business owners, as it relates to employees.
This act makes it illegal to misuse any employee’s personal data obtained through technology such as vehicle tracking.
The Data Protection Act 1998
The Data Protection Act 1998 is the next piece of legislation to consider when looking at vehicle tracker laws in the UK. This act stipulates that companies must protect any personal data they collect about employees, and that all employees have a right to know about the personal information their employers process and store. According to this act, all personal data must be obtained for specified, lawful purposes, and it must be processed lawfully and fairly.
Managers and operators have a couple of responsibilities in this regard. Firstly, they must distinguish and state whether the data they collect is business or personal. Secondly, they must state whether they are using this data lawfully to enhance their business practices with their employees’ consent. Businesses may legally track their business vehicles and drivers provided they do so within the bounds of the law, and they do not use or share personal employee data without consent.
The GDPR 2018
Contributing to car tracking laws in the UK, the GDPR 2018 sets out several principles that you need to follow if you collect personal employee data through the use of this technology. According to the GDPR, drivers and other employees must knowingly give their consent, and personal data must be:
- – Processed fairly, lawfully, and transparently
- – Collected for specified and legitimate purposes and not processed further in ways that are incompatible with those purposes
- – Relevant, adequate, and limited to what in necessary in light of the purposes for collecting and processing this data
- – Accurate and kept up to date, where necessary
- – Kept in a form that allows the identification of data subjects for no longer than is necessary for the stated purposes for collecting and processing it, unless it’s archived for purposes in the public interest
- – Processed in a way that ensures the appropriate security of the personal data, including appropriate organisational and technical protection against unlawful or unauthorised processing, destruction, damage, or accidental loss
The act also stipulates that the controller is responsible for ensuring compliance with these principles. They must also be able to demonstrate compliance.
Practical Tips for Compliance
The car tracking laws in the UK have a number of implications for fleet managers. While you can monitor vehicle mileage, the routes they follow, the number of hours they spend on the road, and driver behaviour, you need to ensure that you do so in compliance with these laws.
Follow these practical tips to remain compliant:
- – Communicate clearly with your employees, letting them know that you track fleet vehicles and stating your exact purposes for doing so.
- – Obtain your employees’ consent before tracking them.
- – Ensure that your drivers know how to use car trackers properly and what the permissible actions are.
- – Be transparent when making changes, creating and refining tracking policies, or upgrading fleet vehicle tracking systems.
- – Ensure that all data collected by your vehicle trackers is handled, processed, and stored in compliance with vehicle tracker laws in the UK to avoid claims of misuse.
- – Focus on business tracking only and avoid tracking employees who are authorised to use company vehicles outside of working hours, as this is an invasion of their privacy.
- – Ensure that your drivers understand that using GPS jamming devices to avoid being tracked is tampering with data, which is a serious offence with potential legal consequences.
Benefits of Tracking Vehicles
Complying with car tracking laws in the UK is the best way to ensure your organisation continues to enjoy the benefits of the best vehicle tracking systems. These benefits include:
Enhanced fleet management and efficiency: Monitor journey times, stops, fuel consumption, and driver behaviour to refine fleet management strategies, improve asset and task allocation, and boost productivity.
Increased driver safety: Vehicle trackers capable of monitoring driver behaviour produce automated audible alarms to alert drivers and help them to improve and better monitor their own driving.
Bolstered vehicle security: Real-time tracking when vehicles are in motion, an hourly system heartbeat when their engines are off, and optional remote mobilisation reduce the chances of potential thieves getting away with vehicles and enable the police to quickly find any hijacked or stolen vehicles.
Cost savings: Tracking vehicles enables you to optimise routes for greater fuel efficiency, monitor and improve driver behaviour for reduced consumption and vehicle wear and tear, resulting in cost savings on fuel, maintenance, and potentially on insurance premiums.
Enhanced customer service: Tracking cars in a way that complies with vehicle tracker laws in the UK enables you to provide customers with more accurate delivery estimates, which should result in greater customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Greater sustainability: Vehicle tracking enables you to reduce CO2 emissions by optimising fuel consumption and adjusting vehicle idling.
Car Tracking Best Practices
If you already have or are planning to install trackers in your fleet’s vehicles, you need to know how to make the most of them while complying with car tracking laws in the UK. Follow these car-tracking best practices to make the most of your vehicle tracker:
Define your goals: Consider your reasons for tracking vehicles and how it can benefit your organisation before determining what information you want to track, such as mileage, fuel consumption, speed, and driver behaviour, ensuring this is in line with the UK’s tracking laws.
Choose a reliable car tracking system: Choose a comprehensive fleet vehicle tracker like Crystal Ball’s car tracking system with features and optional extras that will help you achieve your goals while remaining compliant with vehicle tracker laws in the UK.
Create a clear vehicle tracking policy: Create a policy that clearly defines your reasons for tracking your vehicles as well as the rules, regulations, and procedures of data collection, use, privacy, access, and protection.
Train your team: Provide your employees with formal training on vehicle tracking, its benefits, and how to use the tracking system correctly, and ensure that you address their concerns and have their consent and support.
Use, store, and protect data in compliance with UK laws: Ensure that you use and store data in compliance with UK laws, avoid using drivers’ personal data, and protect it with passwords, limited access, and other means.
Track Your Vehicles Legally
Innovative vehicle tracking systems can revolutionise your approach to fleet management and offer benefits that range from boosted operational efficiency to enhanced safety and security. The trick to making the most of your tracking system is to ensure that you comply with the various car tracking laws in the UK.
Choose a tracking system that will make a real difference to your organisation. Supported by advanced GPS, Crystal Ball’s FleetTracker offers full visibility of your fleet, with real-time location and journey updates and features such as geofencing capabilities, driver behaviour monitoring and analysis, and customisable reports and analytics. Take fleet management to the next level with us.