Automated Vehicles Act 2024

88 Collection, sharing and protection of information

(1) Permit conditions may, in particular, include conditions as to the collection and sharing of information.

(2) That reference to sharing includes—

(a) sharing with the appropriate national authority or other public authorities, and

(b) sharing with private businesses (such as vehicle manufacturers or insurers).

(3) The following provisions of this section apply in relation to information that a person obtains further to a permit condition as to the sharing of information.

(4) In those provisions, “the recipient” means—

(a) the person who obtains the information as described in subsection (3), or

(b) any other person to whom the information is subsequently disclosed.

(5) The appropriate national authority may make regulations authorising the recipient to—

(a) disclose the information to another person for a purpose specified in the regulations, or

(b) use the information for a purpose other than the purpose for which it was obtained.

(6) It is an offence for the recipient to—

(a) disclose the information to another person, or

(b) use the information for a purpose other than the purpose for which it was obtained,

except as authorised by regulations under subsection (5) or any other enactment.

(7) But it is a defence to prove that—

(a) the person from whom the information was obtained as described in subsection (3) consented to the disclosure or use, or

(b) the recipient reasonably believed that the disclosure or use was lawful, or

(c) in the case of a disclosure, that the information had already lawfully been disclosed to the other person.

(8) A person who commits an offence under subsection (6) is liable—

(a) on summary conviction in England and Wales, to a fine;

(b) on summary conviction in Scotland, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum;

(c) on conviction on indictment, to a fine.

(9) Regulations under subsection (5) are not to be taken to authorise disclosure or use that would be liable to harm the commercial interests of any person, except to the extent that—

(a) the regulations otherwise provide, or

(b) the person disclosing or using the information reasonably considers such disclosure or use necessary in view of the purpose of the regulations.