Jersey Lifts: Police criticised for "heavy handed" campaign

Wednesday 03 January 2018

The company behind the 'Jersey Lifts' App has alleged the States Police may be breaking the data protection law after issuing leaflets threatening to share information with insurance providers.

The App was launched by Itineris in August to promote what it describes as “legitimate ride-sharing” after feedback from drivers, riders, members of the public as well as discussions with government officials and the Police.

The free app, which Itineris says is “not affiliated with, or in any way connected to, the Jersey Lifts page on Facebook” has around four thousand users, about a quarter of whom use it on a weekly basis.

But a few months after it launched, Jersey Police issued flyers warning drivers who give lifts for profit that they could be committing an insurance offence, so their policies could be invalidated.  

In the November campaign, the police said driver information will now be shared with insurance providers, the Taxes Office and Social Security department in a bid to clamp down on unregulated transport.

Pictured: Police issued leaflets warning drivers that their insurance could be revoked. 

Now the company behind the ‘Jersey Lifts’ App has written an open letter to Chief Officer Rob Bastable and Home Affairs Minister Deputy Kristina Moore, claiming that the States Police could be in breach of the data protection law.

Ben Lewis from Itineris says, “…as a new Jersey startup, we found this campaign to be both heavy handed and seemingly poorly thought out in both content and approach. After consulting with our general council, we sought the advice of an advocate specialising in data protection, who reviewed the flyer and associated press release, and drafted the attached letter.” 

 The open letter to Chief Officer Bastable says the company believes the police leaflets are “inaccurate and misleading in many respects.”

“…(we) consider that there is no lawful basis by which SOJP are a) purporting to share information on drivers and/or riders who have not been convicted (or even charged) of any crime and/or b) making recommendations that a driver’s insurance should be revoked. It appears that SOJP may be breach of the Data Protection (Jersey Law 2005 (the DPL).”

The letter challenges information used in the leaflets handed out by the police. They question the police warning that drivers are invalidating their insurance by charging more than 60p per mile, as they say drivers are entitled to collect for the running costs of their car and this could vary in relation to insurance rates and vehicle value.

The letter also states that “…a mere suspicion that someone may have profited in some way from a ride-share is not enough” for the police to contact an insurance company or ‘tip off’ the Taxes Office or the Social Security Department.

Pictured: Itineris says the 'Jersey Lifts' App includes driver and rider ratings for safety. 

Itineris's letter says the ‘Jersey Lifts’ App has safety policies, includes driver and rider ratings, has a dedicated report system as well as data location records.

It says, “…we are extremely disappointed that SOJP does not appear to have appreciated the distinction between the Facebook Group and the App.”

They’ve requested a discussion with Jersey Police and a revision to the leaflet campaign.