From now on, the use of fully automated cars on the roads is permitted and regulated by law.
On May 12, 2017, the Federal Council approved the legislative resolution to amend the Road Traffic Act.
Technical development goes beyond legal regulations
Technical developments in automotive engineering are constantly being refined.
Technical systems can now take over the entire vehicle control in certain situations.
However, these systems also recognize their own limits and prompt the driver to take over control of the vehicle again if necessary.
With such far-reaching technical developments, legislation is needed to regulate the interaction between drivers and vehicles in order to ensure safety on German roads.
However, the ultimate responsibility still lies with the driver.
Fully automated cars also affect data protection
However, fully automated vehicles do not only affect the Road Traffic Act.
Data protection also plays a major role in this area.
This is because fully automated cars record the essential data of every journey in order to clarify after an accident whether the technology and therefore the manufacturer or the person was responsible for the damage.
Authorities can request system data
63a Para.
2 StVG contains an authorization that allows authorities to request and view the recorded data under certain circumstances.
These data records may then also be stored and used in accordance with data protection regulations.
However, storage and analysis are only limited to what is necessary to successfully carry out the checks that have been initiated.
Federal Data Protection Commissioner criticized legal regulations
However, the Federal Data Protection Commissioner Andrea Voßhoff criticizes the data protection requirements in the current regulations for liability issues relating to automated driving.
In her opinion, there is a lack of detailed regulations.
There are no regulations on exactly what data is stored and for how long.
It also remains unclear when and for what purposes the authorities and other parties involved in the accident may request the recorded data in accordance with Section 63a Para.
2 StVG may demand.
In addition, the detailed recording of data comes into conflict with the principle of data minimization in the new GDPR.
Comprehensive privacy policy required from car manufacturers
However, it is not only the authorities that must comply with data protection regulations, but also the car manufacturers.
They must provide vehicle users with comprehensive information about the data collected.
In particular, this includes what data is collected, for what purpose and to whom this data is passed on.
Insurance companies benefit from the collected data
However, insurance companies are also very interested in the data collected.
Up to now, this data can be passed on to insurance companies on a voluntary basis in order to reduce the insurance premium.
However, this gives the insurance companies access to all the data recorded from the vehicle.
This includes the exact position of the vehicle, speed, acceleration and braking behavior, axle load, weather conditions and possibly the driver’s level of attention.
This not only creates a usable data record for the insurance company in the event of an accident, but also a detailed driver profile.
Here, too, the user discloses all kinds of data – as with the Amazon Dash Button or cloud computing – about their privacy.
This turns drivers into transparent customers.
Not only their driving style is summarized in data, but also their daily commute to work, sports and all other habits associated with their car.
Even today, such monitoring is not uncommon: BMW, for example, provided the movement profile of a customer in a court case.