Protection and security for vehicle data Trust is the key to the future

With Trusted Data Services, TÜV Rheinland acts as a trustee to protect the interests of all parties involved.

Much can be derived from data streams from connected cars: for example, new business models, greater vehicle safety or insights for optimising future vehicles. However, the success of data-based business models depends on whether drivers trust data security and share their data. To create this trust and thus enable new business models for all parties, TÜV Rheinland has developed Trusted Data Services as an independent data trustee.

Digitalisation and networking, the Internet of Things and automated driving functions are generating more and more data - and offer new opportunities to generate benefits from this data. New services, such as pay-as-you-drive models, have only become possible because a constant flow of data provides an up-to-date picture of the vehicle's condition. In future, this could be used to answer further questions, such as whether all updates installed by the manufacturer "over the air" have been installed correctly?

More than half of all new registrations are commercial. This means that fleet managers have a special role to play within the emerging digital ecosystem surrounding vehicles. Vehicle data offers great potential for more efficient and secure fleet management, e.g. it can be tracked in real time whether there are faults in the electronic system or whether a necessary maintenance interval has been significantly exceeded. At the same time, the driver's data protection rights must be safeguarded

Protecting the interests of all parties is a major challenge. Data must be protected and may only be used with the explicit authorisation of the person concerned. Studies show that drivers are much more open to data-based business models if a neutral body handles the data. TÜV Rheinland has developed the concept of Trusted Data Services to enable accepted and successful business models for all parties involved - OEMs, workshops, fleet operators and drivers.

Recognised neutral authority

The data generated by the vehicle is forwarded to the Trust Centre. There it is checked whether there is a personal reference and which authorisations have been granted for the data. Depending on this, the authorised data is then forwarded to the relevant service, otherwise the data is deleted immediately without any processing. We guarantee transparent insight into the authorisations granted, says Matthias Schubert, who is responsible for the Mobility business unit at TÜV Rheinland: "Acting as a trustee is in our DNA. With the trusted data approach, we are taking the next logical step into the digital age. The fiduciary management of data, for example, makes fleet management much easier. We can allay fleet operators' fears of non-compliant data use and thus pave the way to greater efficiency."

GDPR-compliant data services for fleets

The Trusted Data Services concept is already being implemented in practice The jointly developed platform harmonises the different data formats - depending on the OEM - and, thanks to TÜV Rheinland's Trusted Data Center, ensures GDPR-compliant data processing for fleet operators. Four of these services are currently offered: Mileage Service, Inspection Service, Incident Service and Ecoscore Service. Depending on customer requirements, further services can be developed together with our technology partner