Telematics: privacy in the spotlight

Transport Certification Australia has called privacy issues into focus as telematics systems increasingly gain traction

Advisory body Transport Certification Australia (TCA) has urged caution in relation to privacy concerns and the growing influence of vehicle telematics systems.

Telematics systems, which can provide continuous vehicle monitoring and recording, are becoming increasingly popular with truck fleet operators in Europe and the USA, while their impact is only beginning to be felt here in Australia.

Scania Australia recently announced its Communicator telematics system (pictured) would be supplied as standard fitment on all Scania vehicles produced from February 2014 onwards. Scania says 50,000 trucks are fitted with the technology in Europe, while Volvo Trucks recently announced it has fitted its 25,000th Volvo truck with the technology in the USA.

The Chief Executive Officer of TCA, Chris Koniditsiotis, says telematics is bringing privacy concerns into the mainstream.

“Until recently, concerns about privacy management were primarily the domain of privacy commissioners and expert commentators in the field,” he said.

“Now, with the increased use of telematics – including the emergence of C-ITS [Co-operative Intelligent Transport System] applications – we’re observing a far greater dialogue on the importance of privacy and information management in the transport sphere and beyond.

“One reason the need for appropriate privacy safeguards is poorly understood by many stakeholders is that the implications to individuals – from the inappropriate and/or undeclared use of data which has been recorded, stored and transmitted from telematics services – have not been fully anticipated.”

Koniditsiotis says the protection of privacy is key to engendering people’s trust in telematics systems.

“Telematics and C-ITS, by their very nature, have the ability to collect, record, transmit and store vehicle, driver and consignment information at very high-frequency intervals,” he said.

“It’s significant, therefore, that the Intelligent Access Program (IAP), which has been established and is administered by TCA as part of the National Telematics Framework, contains strong privacy protection and data management requirements in the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL).

“In fact, so critical is the need to ensure IAP information is protected, the HVNL enshrines deliberate roles, responsibilities and accountability between road agencies, transport operators, IAP Service Providers and TCA. This ensures that road agencies and regulators are not able to obtain access to vehicle tracking information simply because it is available.”

Telematics: privacy in the spotlight

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