THE installation of tracking devices in all Dumfries and Galloway Council vehicles is NOT to snoop on employees, it has been claimed.
Council chiefs have previously given the green light to ‘vehicle telematics’ being included in all council-owned vehicles – which monitors location, movements, and driver behaviour.
They argue that a telematics system enhances safety, compliance, and efficiency, and are now calling for this vehicle tracking system to be formally recognised in the council’s fleet management policy.
Councillors will decide whether or not to approve this when discussing the matter at the economy and resources committee next Tuesday.
A council report produced for the meeting states: “The council is required to protect this data to ensure it is only accessed by those with authorisation to do so and is similarly only shared on a need-to-know basis.
“The primary purpose of this policy is NOT to track and monitor employee locations, and in that commitment, telematics data will only be accessed by a small number of manager pre-agreed persons with access documented and available for audit.
“The council will not share any personal data collected by the VTS unless there is a specific reason to do so, e.g., H&S management, law enforcement, or the management of staff/asset responsibilities.
“If data is required to be shared, the individual will be informed before this taking place.
“Staff will only be provided with access to telematics data where there is shown to be a tangible link between the data and it is required for their role.
“All staff members who are provided with access to system data will be required to sign a vehicle telematics user agreement, which will provide guidance on how the data should be used, monitored, and managed.”
However, there have been flaws with the council’s vehicle tracking system in recent years.
Last year, a freedom of information (FOI) request by the BBC asked the local authority for details of how many times its fleet management system had recorded speeding incidents over the previous three years.
However, the council was unable to provide the information as the data from its telematics system had become corrupted.
A council spokesperson said that work was being done with its provider to identify “various sources of incorrect information” in order to be able to produce accurate speed recordings.
