The Department for Transport commissioned mobile network operator O2 to track 25 million devices as part of a £600,000, two-year study, according to reports. At the DfT's request, O2 tracked mobile phone data and car journeys, identifying EV users through EV-related apps, and sent anonymised and aggregated data to the department. A DfT report this week revealed details of the project, which was conducted under the previous Conservative government and ended before Labour won the 2024 general election.
The report states it aimed to discover where EVs are kept overnight, ownership spread, trip frequency, locations, and distances travelled, intending to produce a comprehensive evaluation of EV uptake and usage. The project ended after the DfT concluded that mobile data cannot directly provide information on charging behaviour or travel time. Around the same time, the department and Treasury were exploring ways to introduce new taxes on EVs.
This was a time-limited project using fully anonymised and aggregated data, with no risk of being linked to any individual's personal information or location.
O2 searched web browsing history of its customers and other networks like Sky Mobile, Tesco Mobile, GiffGaff, and Virgin Mobile to identify EV owners, offering this tracking as a paid service called O2 Motion. The Daily Mail reports the government spied on millions of EV drivers as part of a 'bizarre nanny state' plan, raising questions about tracking levels and data use by mobile providers. ' It is unknown whether other mobile operators were informed or what legal justifications were used for tracking without explicit consent.