News & Media 26th Apr 2022
Ola Electric customer Balwant Singh has objected to use of his e-scooter telemetry data in the EV manufacturer’s press statement released on April 22. He claimed it to be a breach of the privacy pact with Ola Electric.
Against this backdrop, Yashojit Mitra, Partner, Economic Laws Practice (ELP) commented on the legality of collecting telemetry data. He was quoted in BusinessLine in their article titled ‘Now, customer data privacy concerns surround Ola’. He said, “We understand that telemetry data enable the vehicle manufacturers’ to collect data relating to performance of the vehicle. It appears that Ola tracks the vehicle sensor data and receives it real time. The sensor data so collected by Ola, is of the vehicle per se and is not in the nature of any personal identifiable information of Balwant Singh’s son, which the data protection laws seek to protect in India. Therefore, in the present context of applicable Indian laws, collection of vehicle telemetry data in India per se may not be considered illegal.”