Can we monitor work vehicles?

If you are using or are considering using dashcams, read our dashcams section and our detailed guidance on surveillance in vehicles.

This guidance covers work vehicles that can be used for personal use as well as vehicles such as lorries. When the private use of a work vehicle is allowed, monitoring during private use will rarely be justified.

Example

An employer provides workers with company cars which they are allowed private use of. Company cars are tracked during working hours for business reasons. The employer uses a tracking system which the driver can disable so it does not monitor driver activity outside of work.

You must ensure workers and passengers are informed of any vehicle monitoring.

Some employers are obligated by law to use tachographs in vehicles to record information about driving time, speed, and distance to ensure the rules on drivers’ hours are followed. In this scenario, you can rely on the lawful basis of legal obligation.

You may be using black boxes across your fleet (vehicle telematics) for vehicle insurance policies. This uses technology to track and record driver behaviour to calculate insurance premiums. Telematics data which records the activities of drivers is personal data and is subject to the UK GDPR. If your insurer is handling driver data, they also have obligations. Read our guidance on controllers and processors for further information.

Driver monitoring which is more intrusive than gathering data on time, speed, and distance, for example, monitoring driver behaviour, or the use of cameras or audio are harder to justify due to the higher risk to worker’s privacy and the rights of any passengers. You should carry out a DPIA to assess the risks. Consider whether less intrusive methods could achieve your purpose and document this assessment as part of your DPIA.

If you are considering the use of any monitoring tool which uses analytics to make inferences, predictions, or decisions about drivers, you must carry out a DPIA. It is unlikely that the use of such technologies would be justifiable or proportionate.