The DVLA has stood by its decision to remove the name and address from registration documents (V5Cs). Rumours quickly spread online claiming that Swansea was thwarting classic car enthusiasts wanting to trace the history of their car in order to comply with new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) laws; a spokesperson denied this.
“It’s nothing to do with GDPR,” the spokesperson confirmed.
“We keep personal details under regular review as part of normal procedure – and it was during one of these reviews that DVLA decided to change how this data was released. We did this by removing previous keep details from V5C documents,” they continued.
The changes have prompted anger from enthusiasts worried that innocent history requests about classics would be made more difficult while the DVLA continued to profit by selling personal information to private parking companies (PPCs).
Swansea’s spokesperson reiterated that V888 requests – the form used to request former keeper information – would still be honoured if the DVLA felt it appropriate. “If there was sufficient reason to release personal data (to fulfil legal obligations after an accident, perhaps), we would do so. The evidence will continue to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.”
