July 16, 2015—The Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS) announced that it is researching EMS data export options in order to identify data pumps that are releasing information to unwanted sources.
During the April 2015 SCRS board meeting in Atlanta, the organization reported on a member issue where the repair facility faced suspension from a DRP due to consumer complaint whose loss was identified on a VIN reporting database. The reporting company responded in writing that while they couldn’t release names of their particular sources, neither the collision repair facility nor the information provider (IP) was the source of the data. Due to this, the carrier’s concerns over the repair facility’s role in releasing the data was reaffirmed.
SCRS said this issue is an example of the need for collision repair business owners to have protocol in place to maintain control of information and data by their business. Aside from loss of business, there are potential liability concerns as well. One of the biggest reasons for data leakage is the transmission of EMS data.
EMS data is a standard that is used by nearly every information and technology provider in the collision repair industry to exchange data between estimating applications and third-party applications that may include claims management, rental management, parts supply programs, aggregators and audit engineers. Many of these programs collect data via “data pump” or “client” installed locally on servers and hard drives. In some situations, data pumps can be loaded onto computers without consent, sending information to sources that were not intended.
To read more about the issues and what you can do to help prevent it, visit the SCRS website.
