Around 70% of British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) members and fleet managers believe that vehicle manufacturers have an obligation to provide vehicle data, with 86% saying that they should not have to pay for it.
That was one of the headline conclusions from this year’s BVRLA Fleet Technology Survey with the organisation saying that the findings provided “much-needed insight into the sector’s views on connected vehicle and driver data”.
BVRLA members and fleet managers shared their views on data access, control, protection, sharing and cost. In a separate questionnaire, drivers were asked about their attitudes on sharing data.
A total of 79% of respondents said they were concerned that vehicle manufacturers would restrict access to telematics data to further their own business goals. Meanwhile, 89% believed that manufacturers should allow them to install third party telematics devices, provided that they met agreed security standards.
With the introduction of the new General Data Protection Regulation less than a year away, more than 50% of respondents said that their company had a clear strategy regarding its collection and use of driver and vehicle data and understood its responsibilities.
Drivers were overwhelmingly happy to share data if it helped to diagnose or prevent faults (95%), automatically alerted a breakdown company (93%) or helped a manufacturer identify safety and warranty issues with its parts (82%). However, they were less comfortable sharing data about their driving behaviour and performance (44% ‘not comfortable’) or selling data about their location, local weather conditions or vehicle performance (36% ‘not comfortable’).
Meanwhile, there was a noticeable lack of consistency when BVRLA members and fleet managers were asked for their opinions on who was responsible for controlling, securing and cleansing data.
BVRLA chief executive Gerry Keaney said: “This is a new, unregulated environment which explains much of the uncertainty. Our responsibility is clear. The BVRLA will play a lead role in helping the fleet sector work with government and the wider automotive supply chain to ensure that all parties share data in an open, secure and fair way.”