December 18, 2001
CIC Task Force Summary of 2001 Activities
The CIC Data Task Force was formed to review and access licensing requirements, data transmission restrictions and other activities to determine the best means of preserving open communication standards while maintaining security and privacy for the collision industry and its customers.Information Provider Issues
In assessing the security measures proposed by the information providers (in December 2000) we reviewed several areas: where to secure; what to secure; how to secure; restrictions on data transfer services; issues relating to securing in the estimating application; and appropriate use of data. After reviewing these areas, the information providers announced in April 2001 that they supported an open environment; had no plans to encrypt output files; supported opening the EMS extract for estimating customers; and supported appropriate data security measures to protect their clients and preserve the integrity of e-commerce. This announcement concluded our review of the information provider issues.
OEM Issues
The OEM issues involved dramatic price increases for data; concerns regarding restriction of OEM data being transmitted over the Internet; and restrictions regarding OEM parts information used in conjunction with non-OEM parts.
On May 23, 2001 GM representatives indicated their position is one to foster open communications through a cooperative effort with businesses in the collision industry. Additionally, they advised that they had no plans to issue licenses to all potential data users. GM's primary concern was misuse of information.
On June 19, 2001 the CIC Task Force discussed issues with DaimlerChrysler. We disagreed with the parts data base pricing used by this OEM, but their pricing did not appear to interfere with the growth or flow of electronic transmissions within the collision industry therefore we felt this issue was beyond the scope of this task force.
We concluded that GM's and DaimlerChrysler's planned use for collision industry data was in agreement with the goals being supported by our Task Force.
We continue contacting Ford attempting to conclude our review of the data transmission issues. Ford has acknowledged our request for information regarding their position, but has been slow to respond due their internal re-organization and legal concerns. We are very hopeful that appropriate representatives from Ford will give prompt attention to this matter so that we conclude task force handling.
As a result of the work completed by the CIC Data Issues Task Force, CIECA formed the Internet Security Subcommittee to define requirements and identify best practices to ensure secure electronic communications within the industry.
Click here to read CIECA Press Release on the Subcommittee
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