DVLA sell owner details

The personal details of millions of motorists have been sold to parking firms and clampers by a Government agency in a trade generating £43.9million so far.

More than 18million names and addresses have been passed to private sector companies in the past five years by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency so that they can be issued with fines

Access to the database was halted last year after complaints about improper use of the data when it was to be used in an advertising campaign for Castrol after the DVLA's assertion that it had not authorised its use.

The government trade in drivers' details helps to support a parking enforcement industry on private land worth an estimated £1billion

Private parking companies can get a driver's name and address by submitting their vehicle registration numbers and filling in a form confirming that they are pursuing an alleged parking offence.

The DVLA charges £2.50 a time for information from this database of 38million drivers.

Revenue from the trade has risen every year from £4.7million in 2004-5 to £9.2million for 2009-10.

Motoring organizations are concerned at evidence of this data falling into the wrong hands as a result of parking, clamping and other unvetted firms buying the details.

"This shows there is a huge Big Brother system run by the state which is in cahoots with parasite-parking companies and clamper." Said the Liberal Democrat MP Bob Russell, who gained the information from a parliamentary question.

"I find it wrong that the state is allowing itself to be used by parking companies to rip off drivers. They are using information given in good faith by drivers. It is totally wrong and no driver is safe."

Ministers agreed, last November, to implement every aspect of our Curb the Cowboy Clampers manifesto, including giving drivers an independent right of appeal.

A DVLA spokesman said: "The DVLA knows it is vitally important to safeguard the information it releases from misuse and has a range of robust measures in place to protect data.

"Any evidence of abuse will be referred to the Information Commissioner for investigation and, where appropriate, prosecution."


Reg

Number plate tax for the UK?

I've just been reading Senate Bill 451-FN thats been passed in the State of New Hampshire and will take effect from July 1 2010.

A little unnerving as it's all about placing an annual tax on vanity number plates.

You've got to wonder how long it'll be before the British Governent get wise to this little earner?

http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2010/SB0451.html

Reg

S.A. 2010 Plates For Sale

Soccer enthusiast and owner of the most sought-after personalised "SA2010" number plates is looking for buyers.

Amod Khan, 63, of QwaQwa in the Free State owns the number plates for eight different of the provinces.

"I am now keen to sell all the plates, besides the Free State one, which I will keep on my personal vehicle. I am on the lookout for buyers and will take the best offers," said Khan.

"With all the hype after the announcement in 2004 that we would be hosting the soccer World Cup, I went out and applied for all the plates," he said.

Khan, who runs a furniture business, said that he was very excited at the time to have acquired eight of the plates, but he now planned to capitalise on his investment.

"People who buy them from me will be proud to drive around in a car with the SA2010 registration plates.

"Whenever I drive around in my car, the number plate attracts attention."

He said he spent over R20000 to obtain the number plates and believes that they are now worth a lot more now.

Reg

A1 KOP for Auction

Liverpool FC fans have the chance to show their devotion to the club thanks to DVLA Personalised Registrations.

A1 KOP, one of the better private plates reflecting the Liverpool football ground in will going under the auctioneers' hammer during the first DVLA public auction of 2010 set for the Haycock Hotel, Wansford, Cambridgeshire.

The event, which takes place over three days, gets underway on Wednesday, January 27, and will also feature the first of DVLA's triple O registrations with 1OOO being auctioned on Friday, January 29.

DVLA Personalised Registrations Marketing Manager, Damian Lawson, said: "Any self respecting Liverpool fan, or Kopite, will undoubtedly want to put A1 KOP on their vehicle, I don't believe we have another personalised plate in our vault which so befits a club or ground in which A1 KOP does. It doesn't matter what football team you support, the mere mention of the word KOP brings instant recognition to Liverpool FC."

In total, the forthcoming auction will comprise 1500 registrations including, ABS 41L (reserve - £350), AMG 80Y (£400), AWS 50M (£400), A1 DAF (£900), A51 EEP (£300), 816 BOS (£1,700), 8 BSA (£1,900), BU55 BYS (£900), ELT 70N (£900), EMA 11L (£400), 458 FNE (£1,500), GHO 555T (£900), HAT 80X (£450), 1 HNE (£3,200), 1 OOO (£8,000), TOW 600D (£450).

Reg

Bending the ANPR rules

Police are using car-surveillance technology aimed at catching criminals and terrorists to target the public so that they can meet government performance targets and raise revenue.

Police insiders also claim that intelligence stored on the national Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) database is "at least 30 per cent inaccurate", which has led to the wrongful arrest of innocent motorists and the seizure of their cars.

The revelations highlight growing concerns about target based operations among enforcement agencies and local authorities seeking to bolster conviction rates and income with "soft" arrests and fines on otherwise law-abiding members of the public.

Click Here! for the full report.

Reg

CH4V PL4TES

I've just found this website; http://www.chavplate.org.uk/
I know that personalised number plates are not everyones cup of tea but I think that this fellows passion may be bordering on O.C.D.

Still, if you look on the right hand column of the home page you'll notice a "plate" of the month category (the actual title is rather more colourful than that) so in the interest of humor I've sent him a picture of my UP51ART number plate and if I don't win, I'm gonna wonna know why!!

Reg

DVLA Auction Goes Ahead

DVLA Personalised Registrations has said that the wintery weather will not prevent its first auction of 2010 from going ahead.

The event, which starts on Wednesday, January 27,and continues for three days, will go ahead as planned at The Haycock Hotel, Wansford, Cambridgeshire, regardless of the weather.

Events Manager, Jody Davies said: "There's no question mark hanging over whether the first auction of the year will go ahead, it will be business as usual come 8.50am on January 27."

"Thanks to the web, prospective buyers can view the auction live, while, as always, we will have a large team of telephonists manning the phones enabling bidders an un-interruptive service throughout the three days."

Anyone interested in any of the 1,500 registrations being auctioned by the DVLA are urged to register as soon as possible in order to secure the remote bidding services.

Once registered, bidders can also send in a written bid allowing the auctioneer to bid on their behalf.

For those wishing to be kept up to date of events as they happen, DVLA Personalised Registrations offers an auction listening service. Dial 0900 312 1103 to be put through to a live sound feed, direct from the auction room.

Reg