Ministers to crackdown on sale of DVLA data

By DANIEL BOFFEY, The Mail on Sunday

Last updated at 22:00 22 July 2006


Ministers are to announce a crackdown on the sale of drivers' personal details by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in a victory for The Mail on Sunday.

Transport Minister Stephen Ladyman will this week propose measures to ensure that motorists' names and home addresses do not fall into the wrong hands.

The announcement comes after this newspaper revealed that the DVLA was selling sensitive details from its official database at £2.50 a time to firms including banks, solicitors and private detective agencies - and even convicted criminals.

The DVLA admitted it was selling the details of more than 100,000 drivers a month, earning it more than £9million since 2002. Its approved customer list even included one parking enforcement firm run by two men jailed for extorting money from motorists.

A detailed list of 'reasonable grounds' for access to the list will shortly be published, spelling out in which cases personal information from the DVLA register can be passed on to companies.

And parking enforcement firms will now have to set out exactly why they should be given access.

Companies will also have to prove that they belong to a recognised trade body - a move the Government believes will root out 'cowboy' operators.

A new complaints procedure will be introduced for the public to report rogue operators.

A Government source said: "There will be greater hurdles than ever to get hold of this information and the dodgy businesses that The Mail on Sunday discovered gaining access will be shut out."

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