Nothing for you to do... unless you want to give them a hard time. If so, you can respond with the following:
Dear ParkingEye Privacy Team / Appeals Team
Re: Parking Charge Notice 288486/335086
Date of event: 31 March 2025
Location: Milton Country Park
Hirer: [Your Full Name]
VRM: [Vehicle Registration]
Thank you for your letter.
You state that you rely on performance of a contract and legitimate interests as your lawful bases for processing my data. That position is flawed for the following reasons.
1. While a contract could potentially be formed with a driver, the land in question is governed by statutory byelaws made under section 41 of the Countryside Act 1968. As such, it is not “relevant land” for the purposes of Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. Therefore, even if a contract were formed, you cannot pursue anyone other than the driver, and there is no lawful basis to process the data of a registered keeper or hirer.
2. You did not invoke Schedule 4 of PoFA in your Notice to Hirer. You also failed to include the required documents under paragraph 13(2), namely the hire agreement and the statement of liability. Without these, you have no lawful basis to pursue me as the hirer.
3. You are relying on personal data obtained either from the DVLA or a hire company in order to pursue someone who cannot, in law, be liable. That is a misuse of personal data and a breach of your KADOE contract with the DVLA, as well as a breach of Articles 5 and 6 of the UK GDPR.
4. Your claim to rely on legitimate interests under Article 6(1)(f) also fails the balancing test. You have no enforceable claim against the hirer, and my rights and interests as a data subject outweigh any interest you claim to have in pursuing this charge.
Your processing of my data is therefore unlawful. I now require, under Articles 17 and 18 of the UK GDPR:
• Erasure of all personal data you hold about me relating to this PCN
• Restriction of any further processing
You must either cancel the PCN or issue a POPLA code. If you continue to process my data without a lawful basis, I will submit formal complaints to the DVLA, the Information Commissioner’s Office, and the British Parking Association.
Yours faithfully
[Your Full Name]
Hirer of the vehicle
[Your Address or Email]
I'd respond with the following:
Dear ParkingEye,
Re: Parking Charge Notice 288486/335086
Vehicle Registration: [Insert VRM]
Date of Event: 31 March 2025
I write in response to your latest letter, which is both inaccurate and legally incoherent.
You now cite Paragraphs 9(2)(b) and 9(2)(f) of Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, which apply solely to Notices to Keeper, not Notices to Hirer. This basic error alone would be embarrassing enough, were it not compounded by your persistent failure to grasp that:
• You did not invoke Schedule 4 in your NtH;
• You did not include copies of the documents required under Paragraph 13(2), such as the hire agreement and statement of liability;
• And most importantly, the site in question — Milton Country Park — is subject to statutory byelaws and is not relevant land as defined under Schedule 4. Therefore, PoFA does not apply at all.
To recap: you have issued a legally defective notice, made a baseless threat of keeper/hirer liability, misquoted legislation, and are now doubling down on your mistake with a recycled, irrelevant template letter that demonstrates either ignorance of the law or wilful misrepresentation.
You now have two options:
1. Cancel this charge immediately, recognising that pursuing it any further is futile; or
2. Issue a POPLA code, where I will refer the assessor to your PoFA failings and the statutory control status of the land, and you can enjoy wasting the POPLA fee.
I refer you, in spirit and with appropriate legal sarcasm, to the response given in Arkell v Pressdram (1971). Should you fail to cancel or issue a code, this matter will be escalated to the DVLA, the ICO, and the BPA with a formal complaint regarding misuse of data and breach of the KADOE contract.
Yours faithfully,
[Your Full Name]
Hirer of the vehicle