More clarity is needed if fleets are not to lose out on the “many potential gains” in efficiency, safety and environmental impact that could result from easy fleet access to their connected car data, says FleetCheck.

The fleet software company says that the debate surrounding connected car data is frustrating, and that manufacturers, above all others, have to make their position clear.

Peter Golding, managing director, said: “Connected car information has the potential to revolutionise fleet management in several ways, if the data is made easily available. However, it seems that we are not really moving forward in terms of key questions such as who the data belongs to, how it will be collected and how data laws apply to it?

“From where we stand, it does seem as though manufacturers are the largest part of the logjam. They seem to have a desire to act as gatekeepers or even owners of the data, but this is not a situation that is sustainable, we believe.

“At the end of the day, fleets have bought the vehicle and the data being collected arises from business and private use of that car or van. What claim manufacturers might have to ownership of the data in this situation seems, to us at least, vague.”

Golding says that the industry also needed to engage in conversations such as how the forthcoming General Data Protection Regulations affected connected car data. “There just seem to be a lot of questions and surprisingly few answers at the moment when it comes to connected car," he said.

“The fact is that there are many potential gains when it comes to what companies like us could do for fleets if we were given access to this data in the next few years. We are sure that we could help employers make their car and van operations lower cost, safer and reduce their impact on the environment.

“Being in a position where that data should be now starting to become available and feeling that it is getting no closer to being in reach is very frustrating.”

 

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