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Millions of O2 users tracked in £600,000 government electric car study

The Department for Transport analyzed anonymised data from over 25 million devices to evaluate electric vehicle uptake and usage in the UK, concluding a two-year study in April 2024.

  • The Department for Transport commissioned O2 to analyse more than 25 million devices, supplying anonymised, aggregated movement and app-history data to study electric-vehicle uptake in the UK.
  • DfT's report explained the flagging method, marking users as potential EV owners if they visited EV-related websites at least once per month in two or more months across a multi-year browsing window.
  • The work drew on browsing and location data from millions of users across O2's network and MVNOs including Sky Mobile, Tesco Mobile, GiffGaff and Virgin Mobile, covering children over the age of 12 and passengers while tracing physical movements.
  • Campaign groups and MPs reacted strongly to the disclosure as critics called it `shocking` and a `nanny state`, while O2 Daisy spokespeople insisted the work complied with data-protection law.
  • The surveillance ran for two years and concluded in April 2024, after which the Department for Transport concluded mobile data cannot reveal charging behaviour or travel time amid pay-per-mile policy and 3p fee from 2028.
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The Telegraph broke the news in London, United Kingdom on Friday, February 27, 2026.
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