Taxi companies: destroying ride and passenger data
A taxi company or passenger transport operator processes more sensitive data than it seems: pickup and drop-off addresses, passenger names and payment data, board-computer and GPS logs, dashcam footage and driver records. Location data reveals where people live, work and travel to, and that makes part of the ride data sensitive. This guide shows, by part, what you keep, when it may go and how to destroy it confidentially.
The quick answer: the administration you keep for seven years for the tax retention obligation. Ride and location data you keep as briefly as possible, dashcam footage in principle a maximum of four weeks. Driver records and screening data you treat separately. What may go disappears confidentially and with a certificate.
Why ride data is sensitive
A ride looks like a simple data point, but says a lot. A pickup address and a drop-off address together show where someone lives and where they went, for example to a hospital, a clinic or a law firm. Such location data is sensitive, even though it contains no medical detail. With contract transport, school transport or seated medical transport, information about the passenger's health or situation is added, which is special-category personal data.
The GDPR requires storage limitation, and with location and movement data that weighs heavily. Do not keep the ride data longer than necessary for billing and a possible complaint, and clear it out afterwards. Only the administration has a fixed period of seven years.
Retention periods by part
The period differs per type of data. The overview below gives the main line. Count the tax period from the end of the financial year and the other periods from the ride or the settlement.
| Part | Starting point | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Administration and invoicing | Tax retention obligation | 7 years |
| Ride and location data | Until billing and complaint | as briefly as possible |
| Board computer, taximeter and GPS logs | Purpose-bound, partly statutory | own period |
| Dashcam footage | Limited retention | in principle 4 weeks |
| Driver records and screening | Own periods per part | see HR rules |
| Contract and medical-transport lists | Special-category data | destroy finely |
Use this as a guideline, not a final legal ruling. The board computer and taximeter have their own rules that can differ. The tax side is in the 7-year tax retention obligation.
Location data and the board computer
The board computer and the taximeter record rides, times and sometimes GPS traces. Part of that you must keep because of your own rules on driving administration, but the detailed location traces you keep no longer than necessary. What you needed for billing can often be reduced once the ride has been settled and no complaint or dispute is in play.
Keep the detailed location data recognisably separate from ordinary administration. That way you avoid movement profiles travelling along for years with a record kept for another reason. On destruction, the data carriers this data has been on belong with it too.
Dashcam footage and driver data
Dashcam footage is a separate category with a short retention period. In principle you keep footage for a maximum of four weeks, and longer only if it shows a concrete incident still being handled. After that the footage is erased or, if physical recording carriers are involved, destroyed. You read more about that in how long to keep CCTV footage.
Driver records contain contact details, a copy of the driving licence, a screening certificate and sometimes medical examinations. Those documents have their own periods per part and should be treated separately. What may go after the period you clear out confidentially, not into the paper bin.
How to handle it in 6 steps
- Split the data into administration, ride data, dashcam and driver records.
- Limit location data to what the purpose requires and keep it separate.
- Erase dashcam footage after the retention period or destroy the carriers.
- Treat medical-transport lists separately and at a fine destruction level.
- Collect what may go in sealed containers, not in the paper bin.
- Have it destroyed confidentially with a certificate and record it in your register.
Destroy confidentially with a certificate
Taxi data is destroyed confidentially, because it contains location, payment and sometimes health data. The paper and the data carriers, including old board computers and dashcam carriers, travel sealed and stay that way until destruction, so the chain is closed. An old scheduling computer or backup with ride data belongs with it too.
Afterwards you receive a certificate of destruction with the date, quantity and level. That certificate is your proof towards the GDPR that you acted carefully. We collect within 20 km of Amsterdam with no call-out charge, work nationwide through pooled collection rounds and charge a fixed price per box or roll container. Drop-off on site is not possible; it works by appointment through collection.
Taxi data to be destroyed?
Tell us what you have and you get a fixed price. We collect it sealed, destroy it at the right DIN level and you receive a certificate for your GDPR file. No call-out charge within 20 km of Amsterdam.
Request a quoteCommon mistakes
- Keeping ride data forever. Location data should be kept as briefly as possible.
- Keeping dashcam footage indefinitely. The retention period is in principle four weeks.
- Treating medical-transport lists as ordinary paper. They contain special data.
- Disposing of old board computers unwiped. The ride data is still on them until they are destroyed.
- Keeping no proof. Without a certificate you cannot demonstrate the destruction.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a taxi company keep ride data?
The invoicing and administration fall under the seven-year tax retention obligation. The ride and location data itself you keep no longer than necessary for billing and a possible complaint, after which it is cleared out confidentially.
Are pickup and drop-off addresses sensitive data?
Yes. Location data shows where someone lives, works or travels to, for example a hospital or clinic. You keep that data as briefly as possible and no longer than the purpose requires.
How long may I keep dashcam footage?
In principle you keep dashcam footage for a maximum of four weeks, longer only for a concrete incident still being handled. After that it is erased or the carriers destroyed.
How do I destroy taxi data in line with the GDPR?
Confidentially and with a certificate of destruction. Paper and data carriers travel sealed and the destruction is recorded in the record of processing.
Conclusion
A taxi company processes location, payment and sometimes health data of every passenger. Keep the administration seven years, keep ride and location data as briefly as possible, erase dashcam footage after the short retention period and treat medical-transport lists and driver records separately. What may go you have destroyed confidentially with a certificate as proof. That way you keep nothing too long and protect your passengers' movement data.
Read also: car rental and leasing: destroying customer data, moving companies: destroying customer data, parking management: destroying licence-plate data and the GDPR retention periods cheatsheet.
Have taxi data collected? Request a quote via desnipperaar.nl. Within a few minutes you have a fixed price, including a certificate as proof.
Related guides: Coach companies: destroying passenger data.