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Motoring news

DVLA investigates number plate ad campaign

28/09/2009

An interactive campaign to advertise engine oil has been stopped early, following concerns over the data used to operate it.

The campaign - conducted by Castrol on five major London arterial roads - used cameras to recognise car number plates, which were cross-referenced with a database of Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) information to find the car make, model and engine type. As drivers passed, electronic billboards displayed their registration number and recommended an oil from Castrol's range.

However, the campaign has raised concerns about the availability of drivers' information held by the DVLA, and is claimed by The Daily Mail to have contravened a ban on using registration numbers in marketing.

The criticism follows recent concerns regarding the availability of DVLA-held information to parking enforcement companies.

The DVLA said that it had acted immediately to stop its data being used to operate the billboards.

"We have not provided any vehicle information to Castrol or received any fee from them in relation to their campaign," a spokesman added.

Commenting on the criticism, Castrol's UK and Ireland marketing director, Chris Sedgwick, said that the company had believed its campaign was "entirely in line with the service provided by our data supplier".

"As soon as we were alerted to the issue we took steps to cease the interactive trial. Castrol does not have direct access to DVLA data," he added.

A Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) spokesperson told The Mail that the adverts could be distracting.

"If the DVLA database is being used in this way, we believe that is inappropriate as it is allowing a private company to target drivers in a way that is distracting them," he said.