Car Reg published online at work

deravarra

Hi. I had someone log an infarction against me at my work, stating they saw my car failing to stop at a zebra crossing in work.
I have no recollection of said event, nor does my carpooling colleague.
However, what I find quite disturbing is the fact that my car registration number, although without my name attached, is plainly visible to anyone who may access the system. This is available to thousands of employees.
Is the publishing of this data against the law, or GDPR?

Thanks in advance.

whomitconcerns

A licence plate is public information. Could anyone in your car park not see your licence plate anyway? Not gdpr.


It's not identifying to an average member of public

dudara

The question is if the publication of your car registration can lead to someone identifying you. Normally I would say not really, as the car registration database is only available to authorised people.

However, this has been been published in your workplace, and it would be far easier for people to figure out who owned that registration. They could just watch the car and see who drove it.

So on that basis, I would say you have grounds for a complaint.

whomitconcerns

dudara wrote: »

The question is if the publication of your car registration can lead to someone identifying you. Normally I would say not really, as the car registration database is only available to authorised people.

However, this has been been published in your workplace, and it would be far easier for people to figure out who owned that registration. They could just watch the car and see who drove it.

So on that basis, I would say you have grounds for a complaint.

Actually I would agree with dudara, a work issue for HR to intervene in. but I would not say it's a gdpr beach as, on its own it can't be used to identify you.

deravarra

dudara wrote: »

this has been been published in your workplace, and it would be far easier for people to figure out who owned that registration. They could just watch the car and see who drove it.

I was thinking along this line

Irishphotodesk

deravarra wrote: »

Hi. I had someone log an infarction against me at my work, stating they saw my car failing to stop at a zebra crossing in work.
I have no recollection of said event, nor does my carpooling colleague.
However, what I find quite disturbing is the fact that my car registration number, although without my name attached, is plainly visible to anyone who may access the system. This is available to thousands of employees.
Is the publishing of this data against the law, or GDPR?

Thanks in advance.

Your work colleague had better be capable of providing proof of their allegation , it could be seen as a defamatory statement, as it implies the driver of said vehicle has performed an act of bad/negligent driving.

Claw Hammer

A licence plate is personal data and it is a GDPR breach. many people remember other peoples licence numbers and all it takes is one person to recognise the number and you are outed.

evolving_doors

Irishphotodesk wrote: »

Your work colleague had better be capable of providing proof of their allegation , it could be seen as a defamatory statement, as it implies the driver of said vehicle has performed an act of bad/negligent driving.

This is a good point.
Also as it's a comment on your contribution to your work environment It's the same as putting your monthly /yearly work evaluation progress in a public forum.
...and if they are going to do it, there should be a procedure in place for you to appeal.

Sleeper12

Claw Hammer wrote:

A licence plate is personal data and it is a GDPR breach. many people remember other peoples licence numbers and all it takes is one person to recognise the number and you are outed.

What if it's a company car?

Maybe I'm missing something here but I can't see how bad driving by op in his/her own car & on their own personal time would have anything to do with their work place.

If the company owns the car then they own the reg plate.

deravarra

Sleeper12 wrote: »

What if it's a company car?

Maybe I'm missing something here but I can't see how bad driving by op in his/her own car & on their own personal time would have anything to do with their work place.

If the company owns the car then they own the reg plate.

It's my car, and the zebra crossing was on my employer's premises. Yup - big employer

km991148

Is this even a legal crossing, or just some white paint on a private road?

Whats the issue here - a lot of hearsay over someone who thought they might have seen someone do something a bit wrong. Don't take this wrong way op - but is it worth following up on? Maybe let it go and have less stress.

Sleeper12

deravarra wrote:

It's my car, and the zebra crossing was on my employer's premises. Yup - big employer

That makes perfect sense. I wouldn't have thought of that possibility in a million years.

micar

No offence.....but how many people do you know actually know your car reg.

I know mine and mine only.

You might be slightly embarrassed or annoyed but it would take a lot for someone to report you.

I'd be more careful at the Zebra crossing.

A colleague driving to work hit another colleague who was walking across a zebra crossing outside work. He wasn't hurt badly.

We all knew who the driver was but didn't go around thinking... "isn't she the one who hit peter with her car"

Just forget about it.

For anyone who uses the car park, there's a spreadsheet some where with people's name, phone number, make of car, colour and reg of car. Every few years were are asked to update it. If asked me to find it, I wouldn't have a clue.

Claw Hammer

Some people don't know the Reg number of their own car, others know the Reg number of the cars of large numbers of people. Some people are obsessed with cars, talk about them all the time and look at every car in the car park constantly.

Sleeper12

micar wrote:

No offence.....but how many people do you know actually know your car reg.

I have my current van over 2 years & I don't know my reg.

Vetch

Sleeper12 wrote: »

What if it's a company car?

Maybe I'm missing something here but I can't see how bad driving by op in his/her own car & on their own personal time would have anything to do with their work place.

If the company owns the car then they own the reg plate.

Vehicle reg is personal data as it can lead to the identification of a driver/owner of a car. Opinion on this was included in guidelines published by EU Data Protection Commissioners. It is irrelevant who owns the car. It's the fact that a person is identifiable is the deciding factor.

What is unclear from the OP is why this information was made available on a a system available to thousands, and what this system is.

Mrs OBumble

It's quite like that that having such details in the health and safety incidents / near-misses register is part of your employee handbook, and that by signing your employment contract you agreed to be bound by the requirements of said handbook (or whatever they call it. There are good accident-reduction reasons why this information is available to all employees.

Even if the registration number wasn't lkisted, a description ("blue Nissan Micra with boy-racer stripes, which arrived at work at 8am on the 27th of Whenever") would be enough to identify the car as yours, and thus you as the driver, to many observers.

If there is information that is factually incorrect in the register, then you have a right to have it corrected. But if it is correct, you don't stand a chance.

It's quite likely that the crossing has CCTV cover, and that your employer has viewed the footage and knows full well what happened.

The observations of your passenger are irrelevant: they weren't driving, so weren't expected to be watching the road.

Vetch

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

It's quite like that that having such details in the health and safety incidents / near-misses register is part of your employee handbook, and that by signing your employment contract you agreed to be bound by the requirements of said handbook (or whatever they call it. There are good accident-reduction reasons why this information is available to all employees.
.

With personally identifying information removed maybe, but it's difficult to see the inclusion of identifying information as proportionate, fair or necessary.

what kind of workplace has a public system used to host and log 'infractions'?

Victor

deravarra wrote: »

my car registration number, although without my name attached, is plainly visible to anyone who may access the system.

Ask nicely for the registration number to be redacted from the published version.

Vetch wrote: »

With personally identifying information removed maybe, but it's difficult to see the inclusion of identifying information as proportionate, fair or necessary.

The inclusion of identifying information would be proportionate in a report to the system, so that incidents can be properly recorded and followed-up. It wouldn't necessarily be proportionate for the system to publish that information to everyone.

Deleted User wrote: »

what kind of workplace has a public system used to host and log 'infractions'?

As mentioned, there may be a health and safety log that everyone can access, so people can learn of incidents / issues quickly.

Vetch

Victor wrote: »

Ask nicely for the registration number to be redacted from the published version.

The inclusion of identifying information would be proportionate in a report to the system, so that incidents can be properly recorded and followed-up. It wouldn't necessarily be proportionate for the system to publish that information to everyone.

As mentioned, there may be a health and safety log that everyone can access, so people can learn of incidents / issues quickly.

Yes, I was replying to a previous poster's comment about the system being available to all employees. Full details of safety incidents obviously have to be recorded; it's who has access to them and why that seems to be in question.

Mrs OBumble

Vetch wrote: »

Yes, I was replying to a previous poster's comment about the system being available to all employees. Full details of safety incidents obviously have to be recorded; it's who has access to them and why that seems to be in question.

Safety is everyone's responsibility, so everyone needs to have access to information about known hazards. A car that has not respected a pedestrian crossing in the past is, on average, more likely to do so again in the future.

Vetch

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Safety is everyone's responsibility, so everyone needs to have access to information about known hazards. A car that has not respected a pedestrian crossing in the past is, on average, more likely to do so again in the future.

Seriously? Safety might be everyone's responsibility but this doesn't mean they need the same level of access to personal data.

Any hazard is around the crossing of the road and surely the response is to investigate reports of hazards (no reference to this being done in the OP), and put things in place to minimise the hazard eg clearly mark the crossing, driver education, pedestrian education, discipline those against whom a complaint has been upheld.

Irishphotodesk

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Safety is everyone's responsibility, so everyone needs to have access to information about known hazards. A car that has not respected a pedestrian crossing in the past is, on average, more likely to do so again in the future.

If safety is everyone’s responsibility, would it also be ok for the person who was walking on or near the zebra crossing to be identified and the person that made the “log” , so that motorists and other co-workers are aware of the persons who:
(a) are more likely to be nervous around vehicles (anyone that has been a victim of theft, or been involved in a serious incident might be able to understand this logic)
(b) are more likely to be reporting similar infractions, (someone who feels it’s important to “log” someone who goes through a zebra crossing, is also likely to report someone for not washing their hands or someone claiming mileage with a receipt they found)

Pkiernan

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Safety is everyone's responsibility, so everyone needs to have access to information about known hazards. A car that has not respected a pedestrian crossing in the past is, on average, more likely to do so again in the future.

Reduction to the absurd again.

Dravokivich

I'm more concerned that an issue with another employee can be reported, and "is available to thousands of employees," without any form of due process.

Victor wrote: »

As mentioned, there may be a health and safety log that everyone can access, so people can learn of incidents / issues quickly.

The issue isn't just one of the OP potentially driving through the zebra crossing while in use by a pedestrian. Grievances reported within the workplace should be handled with as little an audience as possible. If there is a safety risk, an incident never needs to be directly referenced, nor do those involved.

Get Real

whomitconcerns wrote: »

A licence plate is public information. Could anyone in your car park not see your licence plate anyway? Not gdpr.


It's not identifying to an average member of public

I agree with this post. The main reason GDPR was brought in was to stop big corporations harvesting your data and storing it for themselves or selling it on to other companies so they could exploit your age, location, websites visited, telephone number, what you view etc etc.

Although it's very broad, its original intention wasn't as a defence to the trivialities of everyday life.

In that case, why do people have house numbers on their door, in full public view? What use is that to the average Joe walking by?

Unless you're a target of the RA, or kinihans, or a psni officer or prison officer or guard. What is the difference between this reg printed on a piece of paper and me walking the street taking down every single reg I see on a piece of paper, that is out in public and clearly visible to everyone.

Or God forbid I knew my neighbours reg and he has it parked everyday in the front garden, visible from the road. What if I'm a town gossip and tell the lads down the pub I saw Jim's car breaking a red light on Tuesday? Am I sharing his personal data?

What about the well known millionaires and lottery winners. Do they drive around with a black bag over their car reg?

You're using the internet, as am I, as is everyone. A car reg typed on a screen, that everyone can see in public anyway, is a drop in the ocean in comparison.

In fact, you've 993 posts, are a virgin media customer, Vodafone customer, bought stuff from the US for your wife and your interests included airsoft at one time. What can I do with that info? Nothing, it's useless to me. But you're voluntarily broadcasting it and are concerned about a car reg everyone can see anyway?

evolving_doors

Sleeper12 wrote: »

What if it's a company car?

Maybe I'm missing something here but I can't see how bad driving by op in his/her own car & on their own personal time would have anything to do with their work place.

If the company owns the car then they own the reg plate.

I think you've inadvertently highlighted the issue by stating it was " bad driving by op".
Things just became fact because you assumed.

Op should have recourse to appeal the allegation logged against them.

Presume there should be CCTV in the car park so at very least op should be allowed the opportunity to actually view it.

I would presume that adhering to health and safety rules is part of the OP's work description... So it must follow that if they are passing judgement on his work he should have a right to challenge it.

Claw Hammer

Get Real wrote: »

In that case, why do people have house numbers on their door, in full public view? What use is that to the average Joe walking by?

?

People have numbers on their door. That is why there are restrictions on data controllers keeping the name and address of a person unless they have consent or are obliged by law to have it and the leakage of such data is an offence.

evolving_doors

Get Real wrote: »

I agree with this post. The main reason GDPR was brought in was to stop big corporations harvesting your data and storing it for themselves or selling it on to other companies so they could exploit your age, location, websites visited, telephone number, what you view etc etc.

Although it's very broad, its original intention wasn't as a defence to the trivialities of everyday life.

In that case, why do people have house numbers on their door, in full public view? What use is that to the average Joe walking by?

In the OP's case I think he should forget about gdpr and data storage.
Although it should have been outlined to him at the start how the system worked with monitoring of employees' cars on the work premises and health and safety etc.
I think it's only fair that he should be given the opportunity to challenge the allegations.

ED E

Claw Hammer wrote: »

A licence plate is personal data and it is a GDPR breach. many people remember other peoples licence numbers and all it takes is one person to recognise the number and you are outed.

What are you basing that on?