In the first issue of this newsletter we provided the background to the DVLA’s commitment to abolish the paper counterpart to the photocard driving licence by 2015.
This issue contains updates on the new services in development, and also shares what we currently know about the charging model and the requirement for consent to check another person’s driving record.
View Driving Record (VDR)
Work has been continuing on the View Driving Record service in preparation for a formal launch later this summer. This has included making the service more robust and introducing a bi-lingual version. Refinements have also been made following user feedback around the privacy statement and entitlements.
We have also developed a link to the new Government Identity Assurance (IDA) service and have started a private beta where a selected number of internal users have been invited to test the service before accessing VDR. Feedback from the private beta will be used to improve the service before it moves to public beta later this year. This will eventually be the means through which all users will access VDR.
Share My Driving Record (SMDR)
Share My Driving Record is now in the final weeks of the Alpha phase, and we have continued to use insight and feedback gained from visits to potential users to iteratively develop the prototype before we start to develop the web based service in earnest.
We aim to have a working prototype by early August and have several rounds of insight and feedback sessions scheduled over the coming months with employers, car hire companies, driving instructors and intermediaries.
SMDR access controls
We are aware that many parties are interested in how Share My Driving Record will be accessed. Access controls are under active consideration, we are trialling a number of options and will continue to gather user feedback as we finalise options.
We hope to provide more information in the next update.
SMDR charging model
The new Share My Driver Record service will initially be free. However, this position will be kept under continuous review and is subject to change based on potential costs and other factors.
Not charging users for SMDR is based on the service providing the basic information available on the counterpart, which the driver can currently present free of charge to those who have right to view it. If enquirers require further detail on the record, they can choose to use any of the existing services, whose charges remain
Consent from the licence holder to access their data
Currently to meet the requirements of the Data Protection Act (DPA) 1998, driver data can only be disclosed for driver entitlement checking purposes with the explicit consent of the data subject. Consent is valid for up to 3 years and, in most cases, is recorded on a paper mandate for audit purposes.
Once the paper counterpart has been abolished the DVLA may no longer need to rely on the driver’s explicit consent to legitimately process their sensitive personal data for driver entitlement checking purposes. If the DVLA relies on an alternative schedule condition within the DPA, recipients of the data may still need to be able to demonstrate that the data was accessed for a legitimate purpose, and will still need to inform drivers that they intend to request their personal data from the DVLA.
Detailed audit requirements will depend on the technical solution adopted.
We expect to be in a position to confirm what abolition of the counterpart means to obtaining consent from the data subject in the next update.
