Legal aspects, public interest, and legitimate interest in processing personal data to operate autonomous buses in the regular transportation system

Autonomous or robot vehicles are manufactured with such advanced technologies that they are technically able to operate without human intervention. The number of sensors deployed in automated vehicles is increasing, which runs a high risk of the excessive collection and processing of personal data. Considering European Union and Finnish perspectives on robot buses as an instance of advancements of autonomous vehicles, this article briefly outlines the general legal issues related to developing robot buses, and focuses on public interest and legitimate interest as lawful bases for processing personal data in running such vehicles in the mass transportation system.