If you’ve seen the classic 1964 James Bond movie Goldfinger you’ll recall how Sean Connery tracks the story's villain across the Swiss Alps in his iconic Aston Martin. Back then, in-car location trackers were the stuff of thrillers and Cold War espionage. Today, however, we’ve come a long way from that flashing red light on Bond’s DB5 dashboard. Modern tracking devices are widely deployed in cars to oversee driver behaviour, increase security and find stolen vehicles. Read on to discover more…
In-car trackers are small electronic devices. They use VHF, GPS (Global Positioning System) or both to track vehicles. When used for commercial purposes they’re usually fitted in dashboards. However, it’s easy to conceal trackers almost anywhere on a vehicle.
GPS trackers work anywhere in the world, but the signal is weaker, so it’s possible to hide a car or jam the signal. This means they’re less useful for anti-theft purposes. On the other hand, VHF-based tracking (such as the well-known Tracker™ system) mean vehicles can be found even if hidden in underground car parks or shipping containers.
Depending on the specific system, trackers use either GPS technology, with its orbiting satellites, VHF car tracking or both (hybrid tracking devices). A vehicle’s position can then be communicated to the owner/operator or a third-party control centre. Or direct to police vehicles – currently, all 52 UK police forces can track vehicles with Tracker™. Depending on system specification, capability ranges from basic tracking to advanced functionality that can even safely stop stolen cars while they're being driven.
Why would you want to locate your vehicle? First, there’s the obvious security benefit. Criminals continue to target valuable cars. Meanwhile, improved vehicle security makes it much harder to break into cars and steal them. In turn, this has forced car thieves to change their ways of working. Criminals increasingly use technology to access cars with keyless entry and starting – you may have heard about relay theft of cars from driveways using sophisticated handheld tech. And if they can’t get the car with a relay attack, criminals readily break into properties – so-called ‘Hanoi-style’ or ‘2 in 1’ burglaries – to steal car keys and get away with vehicles. However, with a suitable tracking device fitted, locating and recovering a stolen vehicle is much easier. Insurance companies like tracker-equipped vehicles – and insist on it for some high-risk cars – so your insurance premiums could be lower if you fit one. That’s another good reason for fitting a tracker.
Then there are commercial reasons for vehicle location tracking. Fleet operators have long used trackers for security, operational efficiency and employee tracking. And insurers increasingly offer black-box tracking to novice drivers who have recently passed their driving test to make insurance more affordable.
Motability (the motoring scheme for people with a disability) occasionally asks customers to use a location tracker in their vehicle. They're currently thought to be fitted in less than 5% of Motability Scheme cars. This helps ensure that customers’ benefit directly from their Motability Scheme car and checks to make sure that the Scheme isn’t abused by others – for instance, where the Motability customer lives in a care home and several drivers have access to the vehicle.
Compared to the cost and inconvenience of losing your treasured car, supply, fitting and annual charges for a good quality Thatcham-approved in-car tracker pale into insignificance. With the best tracking systems boasting average recovery rates of 95%, spending a few hundred pounds on a device – plus a modest annual fee – makes perfect sense. And not just for top-end luxury vehicles either. According to DVLA statistics reported by This is Money UK, the ubiquitous Ford Fiesta was Britain’s most stolen car in 2020 and the ever-popular VW Golf came in at number three!
Vehicle tracking is legal in the UK providing drivers know it is happening. And that GPS tracking data management meets GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) law.
Interestingly, according to a 2019 MailOnline article, the European Union plans to insist on all new EU-manufactured cars having trackers from 2022. These will ‘track down drivers that are speeding, driving irresponsibly or have fallen behind on finance payments’.
The same article also highlighted how some manufacturers (including Mercedes-Benz) already fit trackers. And how ‘most new vehicles on Britain’s roads have the capacity to be tracked’. Like it or not, widespread in-car tracking is here to stay.
As mentioned earlier, Motability fits location trackers to a small percentage of Motability Scheme cars. It does this if there’s a high risk of misuse. Where it’s decided that a tracker is needed, Motability Scheme customers are always contacted before a tracker is fitted. Besides, to quote Motability: ‘Data will only be collected on the location of a Scheme car at any given point and this data will only be used where a report has been made, or suspicion raised, that a car may be being misused.’
Despite concerns about vehicle location being a key tool of an all-seeing nanny state, in-car tracking technology offers huge benefits. For a start, there’s added security of people and their four-wheeled property. Then there are reduced insurance premiums and smoother, more efficient running of our economy. And if yours happens to be one of the few Motability cars fitted with a tracker? Please remember that it’s there to protect the Scheme and to ensure that you’re able to fully enjoy the benefits of your Motability car.
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