According to the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), the Commission proposal to revise the EU legislation on tachographs, which is meant to make use of new technological developments to improve the effectiveness of digital tachographs against manual ones, invades the privacy of professional drivers in a very visible way. The cause are the new technological developments to improve the effectiveness of digital tachographs, notably through the use of geo-location equipment and remote communication facilities.

The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) adopted an opinion on the European Commission proposal to revise the EU legislation on tachographs. The revision is meant to make use of new technological developments to improve the effectiveness of digital tachographs against manual ones, notably through the use of geo-location equipment and remote communication facilities. The initiative therefore invades the privacy of professional drivers in a very visible way, as it allows the constant monitoring of their whereabouts as well as remote surveillance by control authorities that will have direct access to the drivers' personal data stored in the system.

With regard to these findings, the EDPS urges to the Commission to update the technical specifications and security measures relevant to the many technologies associated with the new devices to avoid discrepancies in their implementation by industry. The Supervisor also recommends to the Commission the installation and use of devices for the direct and principal purpose of allowing employers to remotely monitor in real time the actions or whereabouts of their employees should be excluded; the general modalities of the processing of personal data in tachographs should be set out clearly in the Proposal, such as the types of data recorded in tachographs and in geo-location equipments, the recipients and the time limits for data retention; the security requirements for the digital tachograph laid down in the Proposal need to be further developed, in particular to preserve the confidentiality of the data, to ensure data integrity and to prevent fraud and unlawful manipulation; the introduction of any technological update (e.g. remote communication, Intelligent Transport Systems) in tachographs should be duly supported by privacy impact assessments to assess the privacy risks raised by the use of these technologies.

On the other hand, on the opinion from the EDPS welcomes the inclusion of a specific provision on data protection that promotes the Privacy by Design principle and underlines the responsibility of owners of vehicles and/or transport undertakings to comply with data protection law. However, Supervisor emphasises that this provision alone does not tackle all the data protection concerns linked to the use of tachographs. Additional data protection safeguards are needed to guarantee a satisfactory level of data protection in the system.