Taxi Driver Online

Dundee taxi drivers’ rage after council allegedly hand out their personal details to rival company

https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/d ... l-company/


Image: Evening Telegraph

Taxi drivers in Dundee are furious after the council allegedly handed out their personal details to a firm attempting to poach them.

Union bosses are concerned that Dundee City Council has breached data protection laws by giving out drivers’ names and address to rival company Dundee City Taxis.

At least four drivers have received the letter encouraging them to join the firm, listing reasons to do so.

The Tele understands that a list of taxi operators can be purchased directly from Dundee’s licensing board for £40 – something many drivers appear to be unaware of.

Chris Elder, local taxi rep at trade union Unite, plans to raise the issue with the council at the next meeting of the city’s taxi liaison group.

“I don’t think it’s right that a company can do this,” he said.

“The drivers aren’t happy that their names and addresses can be given out. The council should be asking people what they want the information for.

“On top of that, the council should inform the drivers if someone has asked for your details. Otherwise all the council will do is create a lot of animosity with the drivers.”

The letters were sent out by Dundee City Taxis boss Qaiser Habib, who also spells his name Kaiser.

Jim Heron, a self-employed taxi driver for 505050, said: “I don’t know why he sent the letters, I don’t really care about that, what I care about is the fact the council gave out my address.

“I phoned him up and he said the got my address from the council, he seemed to find it hilarious.”

Mr Heron said he then phoned the licencing office at the council who confirmed they had given out his name and address.

He said: “The woman I spoke to didn’t seem to think there was a problem.

“It’s the fact they seem to think it’s normal to hand out these details, and a bit of a joke that I’m complaining about. It’s disturbing.

“I wouldn’t have thought they would be allowed to do that under data protection – surely that’s a breach.”

A Dundee City Council spokesman said taxi drivers’ details were available because their applications for licenses were heard in public.

He said: “Taxi licence applications are dealt with in public by the licensing committee.

“Names and addresses are included on the agenda.”

Taxi operator Mr Habib has been approached for comment.

Suspect that's basically a copy of the licensing register, which can be viewed by any member of the public on the council's premises, or the council can charge a fee for a copy, as provided for in the legislation:



I've had letters sent from the likes of insurers and a taximeter agent, and have just assumed that they got my name and address from Fife's licensing register

Not the most well thought out invite I have seen.

The act doesn't say the register should show the address of the licensee.

Down here you get the name and the registration number of the car, and that's it.

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IDFIMH

The Act simply states that 'details' of each application should be recorded on the register, so I suppose it's not unreasonable to assume that that would include name and address.

Found this on the council's website:



The online register doesn't seem to include addresses - just the name of the applicant, application/renewal date and vehicle registration number for plates. Maybe there are different data protection rules for online stuff rather than a paper register.

It isn't rocket science just offer your drivers a reward for names and addresses of other drivers they know. Or even just go round noting addresses with rival cars parked on the drive

that's more likely whats going on here

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Taxis Are Public Transport too

Join the campaign to get April fools jokes banned for 364 days a year !

Dundee taxi boss defends ‘headhunting’ city drivers using personal information from council

https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/d ... m-council/

A taxi boss who sent headhunting letters to “hundreds” of city drivers has defended his actions, saying he has not broken the law.

Qaiser Habib, operator of Dundee City Taxis, was criticised by union chiefs and licence holders after he posted letters to the homes of the city’s cabbies asking them to join his firm.

Mr Habib, a taxi driver by trade who started his own firm in 2017, told the Tele he obtained the list of drivers directly from the council after explaining why he wanted it.

It is understood that a full list of the city’s taxi drivers, complete with name and addresses, can be purchased from the licensing board for £40.

Mr Habib said: “The list of names and addresses has been published – my side of this story is very simple.

“If you go to the council and ask for the taxi information they ask why. They checked I was credible and asked for a written consent from me. Then I paid and got the information.”

Despite concerns from local Unite taxi rep boss Chris Elder and some drivers, Mr Habib claims to have had few complaints from the city cabbies.

“I’ve had a couple of calls asking me to take names off the list if I do this again and I said that is no problem,” he added.

“But most of them are happy and have not said anything. It’s not a big deal – you can’t please everybody.

“It’s a normal business practice and compliant with the Data Protection Act.”

Mr Elder, who will raise the issue of driver privacy at the next meeting of the city’s taxi liason group, believes drivers should be given the opportunity to take their names off the publicly available list.

He said yesterday: “The drivers aren’t happy that their names and addresses can be given out.

“The council should be asking people what they want the information for.

“On top of that, the council should inform the drivers if someone has asked for your details.

“Otherwise all the council will do is create a lot of animosity with the drivers.”

Dundee City Council says drivers’ details are publicly available because their licensing applications were heard in public.

Their addresses were therefore published as part of the application process.

thought you said they didn't include addresses with the list

_________________
Taxis Are Public Transport too

Join the campaign to get April fools jokes banned for 364 days a year !

Up to about 10 years ago that was the case, it no longer is.

Data protection rules now basically state unless there is a very good reason to publish people's data then you shouldn't.

Struggling to think why people's addresses should be published.

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IDFIMH

But the nosey taxi operator got the info direct from the council, not via an internet troll through committee papers.

IMO the council have broken the law.

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IDFIMH

wonder how happy they would be if the taxi union rep went in and asked for the same information on councillors and every taxi driver in the city started mailing them ???

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i started out with nothing and ive still got most of it left

That was the *online* licensing register, not the physical/paper one.

The quote I included earlier from the council's website distinguishes between the online and physical register available to inspect at the council's premises:



What the council doesn't say there is that the online register doesn't include addresses (which would obviously make it useless as regards the firm's 'headhunting' exercise) which was why I made that point earlier.