Olga Sehnalová on eCall: 'We have put great emphasis on the protection of personal data'

Why is this new legislation needed?

The EP has worked for a long time on the issue of a public system of automatic notification in the event of an accident. Private services offer this, but they don’t work across Europe. Also, when you cross a border, you have a language problem and often do not even really know where you are.
The goal is to solve the effectiveness of the arrival of rescue services within the 'golden hour' -  the time that makes the difference between life or death - in a standard way across the EU.

So the new legislation is needed to create the basis for a system of automatic notification on public emergency call systems in case of an accident, which makes use of the European single emergency number 112; to remove the language barrier and also to have a standard system that works across borders.

What about safeguarding people's privacy?

From the begining we have put great emphasis on the protection of personal data. We wanted to make it absolutely clear that there would be no continuous monitoring under this system.

The information is transferred only at the moment a serious accident occurs and airbag sensors set off. Then a standard set of information is sent to the rescue services, in accordance with the system of the given member state. Subsequently a voice connection is established to avoid sending rescue services to small accidents

How much will it cost consumers?

The estimates are in tens of euros. Of course with massive deployment of the system the price will decline.

What will happen now? When will cars be fitted with eCall?

Cars will be fittted with the system very gradually, as we are talking about new types of vehicles, not all new vehicles. There is a transitional period until March 2018 to make sure that once the system is up, it is really reliable.