Taxicabs and Customers´ Data

The requirements to be complied with by companies managing cab reservation services (so-called "radiotaxi" services) were spelled out in 2005. These companies usually request customers´ data at the time of reservation to provide their services, and the Authority recalled the criteria to be abided by in this regard following several complaints also lodged by consumer associations – whereby some companies were said to also store additional information related to customers´ behaviour (e.g. no-show cases, provision of wrong address, failure to pay a fare) without informing them. Such information was allegedly used by the companies to decide whether to provide their services in future to that specific customer.

It was stressed that such additional information may not be collected and stored by the companies in question, which should limit themselves to only acquiring such data as are necessary to get in touch with the customer and establish his/her identity as the person actually making the relevant reservation (e.g. home address or phone number). These data must be erased upon conclusion of the fare, except in specific cases (e.g. disputes on the price paid for the fare, returning of lost objects) – whereby the maximum retention time should not be in excess of 30 days. Companies must inform customers of the mechanisms and purposes of data collection prior to proceeding with the reservation procedure (e.g. via a pre-recorded standard message), and request customers’ explicit consent to use their data for the purposes of marketing and/or market surveys.

Provision: 

•  Le regole per tutelare la riservatezza nei servizi di radiotaxi - 26 luglio 2005 [doc. web n. 1151997]