DVLA sells your details to criminals.............
Discussion
www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=369838&in_page_id=1770&in_a_source=&ct=5
DVLA sells your details to criminals
by MARTIN DELGADO, ROB LUDGATE and MARK NICHOL, Mail on Sunday
08:16am 27th November 2005
The Government is selling the names and home addresses of motorists on its drivers' database to convicted criminals, a Mail on Sunday investigation has revealed.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) tells would-be wheel-clampers there is "no problem" with them buying drivers' home addresses - even if they have a criminal record.
Indeed, the two bosses of one clamping firm on the list of companies to whom the DVLA is happy to sell drivers' details are currently serving seven years' jail between them for extorting money from motorists.
The Mail on Sunday has now forced the DVLA to hand over its list of 157 firms which can buy personal information about drivers at £2.50 a time. All the companies need do is tap in a registration plate, and back comes the full name and address of the vehicle's owners.
The dossier shows that details of millions of drivers have been made available to bailiffs, credit control companies, debt collection agencies, property management firms, leisure centres, solicitors - and even one of the world's biggest loan and financial services companies.
A number of other companies on the list appear to be dissolved or simply not to exist.
The revelations, which suggest that the DVLA is in flagrant breach of data protection laws, last night caused a storm of protest, with MPs demanding an immediate end to the practice.
Even the Government's own Department for Constitutional Affairs, which runs the English courts system, said it thought selling the information was illegal.
The DVLA - run by the Department for Transport - says it has a legal obligation to sell the information to anyone who can show "reasonable cause" for having it, such as approved car-park operators who want to trace drivers who have overstayed and incurred a fine.
Mailshot firms
Yet among the companies on the list is MBNA Europe, one of the continent's biggest credit-card and loan companies, which spends more than any other firm in Britain on sending mailshots to individuals offering them credit.
The firm yesterday denied it could access the list - but the DVLA said MBNA Europe WAS allowed to obtain drivers' details as it had a private car park at its Chester offices.
Perhaps the most notorious firm on the list, however, is Aquarius Security. The Portsmouth-based clamping company is run by Darren Havell and Gordon Miller, who in July were found guilty at Bristol Crown Court of extorting thousands of pounds from motorists.
Havell and Miller, the court heard, deliberately trapped drivers by blocking them in with a van - and even immobilised cars as they were being driven away. The pair would demand up to £300 to release the vehicles.
Havell, 30, and Miller 38, were convicted of seven charges of blackmail. Sentencing Havell to three years' jail and Miller to four, the judge told them: "You dealt with the motorists in an arrogant, bullying and abhorrent manner."
Police called the men "organised criminals".
Before his arrest, Miller was also served with a five-year anti-social behaviour order after being accused of driving his truck into a 60-year-old man, fracturing his knee, and of clamping an on-duty police car.
Britain has recently been hit by a spate of crimes, such as the fatal stabbing of millionaire financier John Monckton in his Chelsea home, in which the perpetrators appear to have full knowledge of their victims' personal details. The DVLA's sale of private information to convicted criminals is sure to raise fears of an escalation in such crimes.
Criminals confirmed
Last night, however, the DVLA confirmed that the presence of criminals on its list was no mistake, and that a criminal record was no bar to receiving drivers' names and home addresses.
When a Mail on Sunday reporter, posing as the boss of a new clamping firm, contacted the Swansea-based agency, he was told no inquiries would be made into his background before his name was added to the list.
Having phoned to ask about getting the licence-plate data, he was put through to official John Evans. Mr Evans explained that once a clamping firm had sent in the right documentation and "met the required standards", an electronic link to the DVLA database could be set up for about £3,000.
"We will audit people and pay visits to make sure the information is being used in an authorised way but no, it's not a problem if he has a criminal record - we don't check that anyway," he said. "In theory we can release the material to anyone who has reasonable cause for wanting the information. You can have the information as long as you can show us you have a justifiable reason for wanting it and you're only going to use it for legitimate purposes, eg to contact people whose vehicles are parked illegally."
The Mail on Sunday called back to double-check, saying we were "worried about the criminal record thing". Mr Evans replied: "No, we don't make a check of the criminal record."
Breaks human rights convention
Lawyers say the DVLA's behaviour - first revealed by The Mail on Sunday last week - breaches the European Convention on Human Rights.
Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker, who received dozens of complaints from constituents about Creative Car Park Management - also on the official list - said last night: "These are outrageous revelations. Not only is the Government showing a completely contemptuous attitude towards its responsibility to keep data to itself, it now appears to be handing it out willy-nilly to known criminals. This practice is totally unacceptable and must be stopped right away."
Another clamper whose inclusion on the DVLA register gives him access to motorists' names and addresses is Costas Constantinou, whose company, Vehicle Clamping Securities, has been named as the worst clamping firm in the UK.
Mr Constantinou has been accused of contacting one of his firm's victims at home to demand payment - although he denies the allegation.
Another approved operator, Car and Vehicle Clamping and Towing Services, forced Olympic sprinter Katharine Merry and a friend to pay £670 to retrieve their impounded cars in Swindon.
Using the DVLA's database is surprisingly straightforward. A company simply feeds vehicles' registration numbers into the agency's system. Requests are processed overnight and drivers' details are e-mailed by 7am the next day. Fees, currently £2.50 per inquiry, are collected weekly by direct debit.
Our report last week triggered a massive response from Mail on Sunday readers who were horrified to discover their names and addresses were being sold to unregulated private companies in an industry notorious for unscrupulous behaviour.
Civil rights organisation Liberty accused the DVLA of breaching the European Convention on Human Rights, which upholds a person's right to a private life. Director Shami Chakrabarti said: "That the DVLA is making a profit from our private details while the Government is giving reassurances about identity cards is extremely troubling."
Data protection row
DVLA chiefs claim they have the right to disclose personal information under a Statutory Instrument, a part of UK law that is passed without being discussed in the Commons.
But a spokesman for the Department for Constitutional Affairs, which is responsible for data protection, said the practice should stop immediately.
"In our view, there is nothing in the Data Protection Act that allows people or organisations to give out these personal details. The Information Commission is the arbiter. It enforces data protection laws. The Mail on Sunday has done a public service in bringing this to people's attention."
Assistant Information Commissioner Jonathan Bamford said: "We will be taking this up with the DVLA to find out why they think this is covered by the 'reasonable cause' provision. We police the Data Protection Act, but we don't have any power to issue 'Stop Now' orders. We will use the powers we have to find out what's going on urgently."
He could not say what the commission's decision might be in case it prejudices any legal appeal. But he said if he believed the law was being broken, he may issue an enforcement notice against Transport Minister Alistair Darling.
The DVLA said: "When a car park company approaches us to receive vehicle keeper information, we ask for a summary of their business before releasing information. The aim is to enable companies or individuals to enforce on their private land. If we are not satisfied the company meets the 'reasonable cause' requirement, access to such information is withheld."
Confronted with our evidence, the DVLA said it would now start checking the criminal records of applicants for its data - although it refused to say that a conviction would be a bar in the future.
The DVLA appears to be the only government department or agency which sells personal data to third parties. Revenue and Customs, the Department for Work and Pensions and the UK Passport Service and others all said they had no power to sell private details to outsiders.
When The Mail on Sunday confronted DVLA chief executive Clive Bennett at his Swansea home about the sale of drivers' details, he insisted: "We have a duty to supply this information."
He stressed: "It is wrong to suggest the DVLA is making a lot of money out of this service. We only charge £2.50, and that is solely to cover our costs."
Asked if the DVLA checked the criminal records of those they supplied drivers' details to, he declined to comment.
DVLA sells your details to criminals
by MARTIN DELGADO, ROB LUDGATE and MARK NICHOL, Mail on Sunday
08:16am 27th November 2005
The Government is selling the names and home addresses of motorists on its drivers' database to convicted criminals, a Mail on Sunday investigation has revealed.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) tells would-be wheel-clampers there is "no problem" with them buying drivers' home addresses - even if they have a criminal record.
Indeed, the two bosses of one clamping firm on the list of companies to whom the DVLA is happy to sell drivers' details are currently serving seven years' jail between them for extorting money from motorists.
The Mail on Sunday has now forced the DVLA to hand over its list of 157 firms which can buy personal information about drivers at £2.50 a time. All the companies need do is tap in a registration plate, and back comes the full name and address of the vehicle's owners.
The dossier shows that details of millions of drivers have been made available to bailiffs, credit control companies, debt collection agencies, property management firms, leisure centres, solicitors - and even one of the world's biggest loan and financial services companies.
A number of other companies on the list appear to be dissolved or simply not to exist.
The revelations, which suggest that the DVLA is in flagrant breach of data protection laws, last night caused a storm of protest, with MPs demanding an immediate end to the practice.
Even the Government's own Department for Constitutional Affairs, which runs the English courts system, said it thought selling the information was illegal.
The DVLA - run by the Department for Transport - says it has a legal obligation to sell the information to anyone who can show "reasonable cause" for having it, such as approved car-park operators who want to trace drivers who have overstayed and incurred a fine.
Mailshot firms
Yet among the companies on the list is MBNA Europe, one of the continent's biggest credit-card and loan companies, which spends more than any other firm in Britain on sending mailshots to individuals offering them credit.
The firm yesterday denied it could access the list - but the DVLA said MBNA Europe WAS allowed to obtain drivers' details as it had a private car park at its Chester offices.
Perhaps the most notorious firm on the list, however, is Aquarius Security. The Portsmouth-based clamping company is run by Darren Havell and Gordon Miller, who in July were found guilty at Bristol Crown Court of extorting thousands of pounds from motorists.
Havell and Miller, the court heard, deliberately trapped drivers by blocking them in with a van - and even immobilised cars as they were being driven away. The pair would demand up to £300 to release the vehicles.
Havell, 30, and Miller 38, were convicted of seven charges of blackmail. Sentencing Havell to three years' jail and Miller to four, the judge told them: "You dealt with the motorists in an arrogant, bullying and abhorrent manner."
Police called the men "organised criminals".
Before his arrest, Miller was also served with a five-year anti-social behaviour order after being accused of driving his truck into a 60-year-old man, fracturing his knee, and of clamping an on-duty police car.
Britain has recently been hit by a spate of crimes, such as the fatal stabbing of millionaire financier John Monckton in his Chelsea home, in which the perpetrators appear to have full knowledge of their victims' personal details. The DVLA's sale of private information to convicted criminals is sure to raise fears of an escalation in such crimes.
Criminals confirmed
Last night, however, the DVLA confirmed that the presence of criminals on its list was no mistake, and that a criminal record was no bar to receiving drivers' names and home addresses.
When a Mail on Sunday reporter, posing as the boss of a new clamping firm, contacted the Swansea-based agency, he was told no inquiries would be made into his background before his name was added to the list.
Having phoned to ask about getting the licence-plate data, he was put through to official John Evans. Mr Evans explained that once a clamping firm had sent in the right documentation and "met the required standards", an electronic link to the DVLA database could be set up for about £3,000.
"We will audit people and pay visits to make sure the information is being used in an authorised way but no, it's not a problem if he has a criminal record - we don't check that anyway," he said. "In theory we can release the material to anyone who has reasonable cause for wanting the information. You can have the information as long as you can show us you have a justifiable reason for wanting it and you're only going to use it for legitimate purposes, eg to contact people whose vehicles are parked illegally."
The Mail on Sunday called back to double-check, saying we were "worried about the criminal record thing". Mr Evans replied: "No, we don't make a check of the criminal record."
Breaks human rights convention
Lawyers say the DVLA's behaviour - first revealed by The Mail on Sunday last week - breaches the European Convention on Human Rights.
Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker, who received dozens of complaints from constituents about Creative Car Park Management - also on the official list - said last night: "These are outrageous revelations. Not only is the Government showing a completely contemptuous attitude towards its responsibility to keep data to itself, it now appears to be handing it out willy-nilly to known criminals. This practice is totally unacceptable and must be stopped right away."
Another clamper whose inclusion on the DVLA register gives him access to motorists' names and addresses is Costas Constantinou, whose company, Vehicle Clamping Securities, has been named as the worst clamping firm in the UK.
Mr Constantinou has been accused of contacting one of his firm's victims at home to demand payment - although he denies the allegation.
Another approved operator, Car and Vehicle Clamping and Towing Services, forced Olympic sprinter Katharine Merry and a friend to pay £670 to retrieve their impounded cars in Swindon.
Using the DVLA's database is surprisingly straightforward. A company simply feeds vehicles' registration numbers into the agency's system. Requests are processed overnight and drivers' details are e-mailed by 7am the next day. Fees, currently £2.50 per inquiry, are collected weekly by direct debit.
Our report last week triggered a massive response from Mail on Sunday readers who were horrified to discover their names and addresses were being sold to unregulated private companies in an industry notorious for unscrupulous behaviour.
Civil rights organisation Liberty accused the DVLA of breaching the European Convention on Human Rights, which upholds a person's right to a private life. Director Shami Chakrabarti said: "That the DVLA is making a profit from our private details while the Government is giving reassurances about identity cards is extremely troubling."
Data protection row
DVLA chiefs claim they have the right to disclose personal information under a Statutory Instrument, a part of UK law that is passed without being discussed in the Commons.
But a spokesman for the Department for Constitutional Affairs, which is responsible for data protection, said the practice should stop immediately.
"In our view, there is nothing in the Data Protection Act that allows people or organisations to give out these personal details. The Information Commission is the arbiter. It enforces data protection laws. The Mail on Sunday has done a public service in bringing this to people's attention."
Assistant Information Commissioner Jonathan Bamford said: "We will be taking this up with the DVLA to find out why they think this is covered by the 'reasonable cause' provision. We police the Data Protection Act, but we don't have any power to issue 'Stop Now' orders. We will use the powers we have to find out what's going on urgently."
He could not say what the commission's decision might be in case it prejudices any legal appeal. But he said if he believed the law was being broken, he may issue an enforcement notice against Transport Minister Alistair Darling.
The DVLA said: "When a car park company approaches us to receive vehicle keeper information, we ask for a summary of their business before releasing information. The aim is to enable companies or individuals to enforce on their private land. If we are not satisfied the company meets the 'reasonable cause' requirement, access to such information is withheld."
Confronted with our evidence, the DVLA said it would now start checking the criminal records of applicants for its data - although it refused to say that a conviction would be a bar in the future.
The DVLA appears to be the only government department or agency which sells personal data to third parties. Revenue and Customs, the Department for Work and Pensions and the UK Passport Service and others all said they had no power to sell private details to outsiders.
When The Mail on Sunday confronted DVLA chief executive Clive Bennett at his Swansea home about the sale of drivers' details, he insisted: "We have a duty to supply this information."
He stressed: "It is wrong to suggest the DVLA is making a lot of money out of this service. We only charge £2.50, and that is solely to cover our costs."
Asked if the DVLA checked the criminal records of those they supplied drivers' details to, he declined to comment.
I recently contacted the DVLA to get the details of a car that opened it's door onto mine in a car park and drove off 
, so I can see how the service might be needed. Information should only be available for legitimate operators, and the use of that information properly restricted. All very difficult to police in practice though.
In my case, the plate on the offending car was incorrect
, so this service was not so useful after all.
Another case of the law abiding getting the biggest shafting perhaps?
Nice to see that the authorities are getting even more creative about how they extract money from the motorist. What next? Scamera partnership loyalty cards?
, so I can see how the service might be needed. Information should only be available for legitimate operators, and the use of that information properly restricted. All very difficult to police in practice though. In my case, the plate on the offending car was incorrect
, so this service was not so useful after all. Another case of the law abiding getting the biggest shafting perhaps?
Nice to see that the authorities are getting even more creative about how they extract money from the motorist. What next? Scamera partnership loyalty cards?711 said:
I recently contacted the DVLA to get the details of a car that opened it's door onto mine in a car park and drove off
I disagree. The key word is "police"... Restrict the availability of the information to the police, job done. It should be the police pursuing your drive-off anyway, not something you have to do yourself.
The police may be undermanned and overpaperworked, but that's an entirely different rant...
Pigeon said:
The police may be undermanned and overpaperworked, but that's an entirely different rant...
I agree it should be the police rather than me. I guess there are a lot of things that used to be dealt with by the police and are no longer, to the detriment of getting things done properly I've found.
I'm not happy with companies being given pretty much free reign to access this information for commercial purposes either. But until we can turn around the rot that appears to have set into this country, how is one meant to resolve the drive away problem I had? Surely a sub optimal solution to a problem (I define solution as something that makes the problem less of a problem, not more!) is better than no solution?
Let me reiterate though - apparently commercial use of the database like the examples in the press report is simply wrong, and not checking the background of participants in such a scheme must be bordering on negligent.
Exactly the same used to happen with information you were forced to give the local authority when you registered to vote/pay council tax etc.
They were selling the info on to anyone who wanted it which only led to famous people/celebrities registering their homes in the names of holding companies.
They were stopped doing this a few years back on the principle that you we legally obliged to give them information and they had a duty to protect that information.
They were selling the info on to anyone who wanted it which only led to famous people/celebrities registering their homes in the names of holding companies.
They were stopped doing this a few years back on the principle that you we legally obliged to give them information and they had a duty to protect that information.
BigBob said:
Exactly the same used to happen with information you were forced to give the local authority when you registered to vote/pay council tax etc.
They were selling the info on to anyone who wanted it which only led to famous people/celebrities registering their homes in the names of holding companies.
They were stopped doing this a few years back on the principle that you we legally obliged to give them information and they had a duty to protect that information.
The difference here though is that the voters list is a public document open to inspection by anyone who wanders into the Town Hall. The DVLA records aren't publicly available (or aren't supposed to be).
Voters lists can still be purchased but you can now opt out of being included in a list for sale.
It worries me that car thieves can spot a nice car, pay £2.50 and find out where you live.
Ooohh! Thats a nice motor, wonder where that lives? Might be easy to nick.
I am always careful (from my Cossie days) about cars tailing me, more so especially since I had a 3 month old STI 8 nicked after the baddies burgled my house one night. My family and I were asleep upstairs....
Not nice.
Ooohh! Thats a nice motor, wonder where that lives? Might be easy to nick.
I am always careful (from my Cossie days) about cars tailing me, more so especially since I had a 3 month old STI 8 nicked after the baddies burgled my house one night. My family and I were asleep upstairs....
Not nice.
As we all know car alarms are a waste of time... or are they? Not if you mount the alarm itself 'inside' the car and it's triggered from the ignition (lol) with a disclaimer on door screen that anyone apart from owner has no right to enter and if he/she does enter the owner cannot be held responsible. Only drawback is to remember to disarm it before 'you' put the keys in ignition! Thief may start your car but he'll wish he hadn't! The aforementioned is not condoned by me... is probably (surely?) illegal - but again proves the law is not on the side of the victim, unless you think the 'deaf' thief is now a victim (tee hee!)
Mr Whippy said:
And we want even more details on our "ID" cards for teh government to sell to "worthy" causes?
This alone proves that the government can't respect the data they hold about people by keeping it in safe responsible hands!
Dave
Exactly. Who would trust them with all that data? They'd just sell it to the highest bidder.
article said:
Using the DVLA's database is surprisingly straightforward. A company simply feeds vehicles' registration numbers into the agency's system. Requests are processed overnight and drivers' details are e-mailed by 7am the next day. Fees, currently £2.50 per inquiry, are collected weekly by direct debit.
Seems like quite a neat system technologically. I bet that took a fair bit of IT know-how to implement. I wonder who paid for it?
Oh yea, we did. With money that could have gone on public transport, education or hospitals. So they pulled our pants down, robbed us blind, did us from behind and then they walked off as if nothing happened.
WHY do we put up with it? I wonder how long it'll be until some groups decide they've had enough and we start seeing widespread civil unrest.
>> Edited by Jared_m on Tuesday 29th November 10:44
Jared_m said:
Using the DVLA's database is surprisingly straightforward. A company simply feeds vehicles' registration numbers into the agency's system. Requests are processed overnight and drivers' details are e-mailed by 7am the next day. Fees, currently £2.50 per inquiry, are collected weekly by direct debit.
Seems like quite a neat system technologically. I bet that took a fair bit of IT know-how to implement. I wonder who paid for it?
Oh yea, we did. With money that could have gone on public transport, education or hospitals. So they pulled our pants down, robbed us blind, did us from behind and then they walked off as if nothing happened.
WHY do we put up with it? I wonder how long it'll be until some groups decide they've had enough and we start seeing widespread civil unrest.
>> Edited by Jared_m on Tuesday 29th November 10:44
We are too busy being distracted by more important things that require the governments attention too, like terrorism of course.
No time to worry about DVLA's dodgy practices when mad men with bombs are running around all over the place!
Dave
Mr Whippy said:
We are too busy being distracted by more important things that require the governments attention too, like terrorism of course.
No time to worry about DVLA's dodgy practices when mad men with bombs are running around all over the place!
Dave
Haha, yes.. lots of mad men threatening our soceity. I think the bigger threat here is from government, we're slowly being conditioned to work like slaves to pay for technology to shackle us into a life of paying, paying and paying!
It irritates me :-(
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