Number Plates News

DVLA Sells Out

22 September 2009

In an astonishing abuse of powers, even by its own standards, the DVLA now appears to be offering vehicle registration data to generate advertising revenue.

Oil giant, Castrol, has been granted access to the database in order to assist a somewhat bizarre billboard campaign. The innovative, if it wasn't for the insidious undertones, scheme involves a number of large electronic hoardings which have appeared at prime positions in London. As a car approaches, an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) camera clocks the registration, checks with the DVLA records and instantly flashes a 17 foot wide advertisement for the particular grade of the manufacturer's lubricant, matched to the make and model found.

Castrol are quick to assure us that no information is stored, and their advertising agency justifies the exercise with the wonderfully sweeping statement; "the majority of car owners have little understanding of the purpose of oil in an engine."

Innocent as the use of confidential data may be in this instance, the fact that Castrol, together with more than 150 other organisations, are able to buy personal information for just £2.50 a time is scandalous.

However much we may abhor the practice, releasing information to organisations such as private parking management companies, does at least have some validity. Similarly, the use of vehicle registration data by insurance brokers, particularly in online quotation systems, should cause little genuine concern. But targeting your car so that an advertiser can hit you with a personalised promotion surely sets a blatantly commercial precedent.