Modern cars have evolved into more than just vehicles. They have transformed into rolling data centers, akin to smartphones on wheels.
As we drive, these smart cars silently gather a wealth of information about us, tracking our routes, monitoring driving habits, and even delving into biometric details. However, this accumulation of data raises concerns about privacy and the control that car manufacturers and third parties have over our personal information.
What Your Car Knows
Every time you use your turn signal or perform any action in your car, you’re generating a digital record. Smart cars today are equipped with advanced features and touch-sensitive panels that respond to the slightest touch, wave, or voice command.
These interactions with your car generate a record of your activities, which is collected and stored by the car company.
How Your Car Collects Your Data
Telematics
Telematics is the art and science of monitoring, logging, and analyzing driving behavior. It involves tracking factors such as braking intensity, acceleration, headlight usage, and even the opening of your driver’s side door.
This data is used by insurance companies to offer incentives like good-driver discounts and to provide personalized driving experiences.
Connected Services and Devices
Your smart car’s capabilities extend beyond physical actions. Services accessible through your car’s dashboard, such as radio stations, infotainment systems, and GPS route planners, also contribute to data collection. Car companies can even access data from your synchronized mobile devices.
External Data Sources
Car companies can gather additional information about you from data brokers, car dealers, your social media profiles, and government sources. This further enriches the data they collect.
20 Ways Your Smart Car Tracks You
- Location tracking: Smart cars can pinpoint their exact location using GPS technology, enabling features like navigation and providing data on travel patterns.
- Traffic patterns and congestion: Smart cars collect data on traffic patterns and congestion, which can improve navigation but can also be used to track individual vehicles.
- Driving behavior: Factors like acceleration, braking, speed, and steering patterns are monitored to analyze how a driver operates the vehicle.
- In-vehicle preferences: Settings like seat position, climate control, and entertainment choices are recorded to provide a personalized driving experience.
- Biometric data: Some smart cars can collect biometric data, such as fingerprints and facial scans, for security purposes.
- Data from synced devices: Smart cars may access and collect data from synchronized mobile devices, including call logs, messages, and app usage.
- External cameras and sensors: Sensors and cameras monitor the car’s surroundings for features like parking assistance, lane-keeping, and collision avoidance.
- Environmental data: Smart cars collect data on air quality, temperature, and road conditions to improve navigation, safety systems, and environmental monitoring.
- Voice recognition: Smart cars with voice recognition systems can track what the driver and passengers say to control various features.
- Trip log information: Smart cars record information about the start and end of journeys, as well as details of the trip and route taken.
- Airbag system data: Some cars collect data related to the airbag system, including weight and body position information, which can be used for diagnostics and accident investigations.
- On-board data: Cars generate a wide range of information, including engine performance, tire pressure, and fluid levels, to assist with maintenance and diagnostics.
- Media analytics: Information about what you listen to in your car, such as radio stations and media sources, may be tracked.
- Battery, ignition, and window data: Information about the vehicle’s state, including battery status, ignition status, and window positions, can be collected.
- Diagnostic information: Smart cars track diagnostic information, such as fault codes and system performance data, to diagnose vehicle problems and improve reliability.
- Stability control and anti-lock events: Instances where safety features like stability control and anti-lock brakes are activated are recorded.
- Security/theft alerts: Smart cars can generate security and theft alerts, which can be sent to the vehicle owner’s smartphone or a monitoring service.
- Wi-Fi data usage: Smart cars can track Wi-Fi data usage, including websites visited by the driver and passengers.
- Home energy usage: Electric vehicles can track home energy usage, including charging habits and energy consumption patterns.
- Vehicle maintenance: Smart cars collect data on their own performance and maintenance needs to improve reliability and safety.
Why Smart Car Tracking is a Privacy Nightmare
Smart cars offer unprecedented connectivity and convenience, but they also come with a significant invasion of privacy and security risks. Few products collect as much information about an individual’s actions, whereabouts, and conversations as a smart car.
The data collected includes personal details, location specifics, digital footprints, demographic insights, financial information, biometric data, and behavioral patterns. This data is often shared with third parties, government agencies, advertisers, and data brokers, raising concerns about targeted advertising, surveillance, profiling, and potential discrimination.
Additionally, the security of smart car data is a major concern, as data breaches and cyberattacks can expose sensitive information and put individuals at risk of identity theft and other harms.
Analyzing Top Car Models in the U.S.
Privacy4Cars, a U.S.-based automotive firm, has developed a Vehicle Privacy Report tool to provide insights into the data collection practices of different car models.
By cross-referencing manufacturers’ public policy documents and using unique vehicle identification numbers (VINs), the tool reveals the extent of data collection and sharing by smart cars. Here’s what we found when we ran the five most popular car models in the U.S. through the Privacy4Cars tool:
- 2023 Chevrolet Silverado: The Silverado actively gathers personal details, biometric markers, driving habits, user profiles, vehicle status, and journey information. It shares data with affiliates, service providers, insurers, and government agencies.
- 2023 Ford F-150: The F-150 collects personal details, location data, driving habits, user profiles, and vehicle status. It also shares data with affiliates, service providers, insurers, and government bodies.
- 2023 RAM 1500: The RAM 1500 collects personal identifiers, biometric data, driving habits, user profiles, vehicle status, and journey information. It shares data with affiliates, service providers, insurers, and government agencies.
- 2023 Honda CR-V: The CR-V collects personal details, vehicle status, trip logs, synchronized phone information, voice commands, and driver behavior data. It shares data with affiliates, service providers, and government bodies.
- 2023 Tesla Model Y: Tesla’s privacy policy lacks clarity on data deletion and sharing practices. The Model Y collects personal identifiers, location data, and vehicle status. Its policy on synchronized phones, user profiles, and biometrics is unclear. It shares data with affiliates and service providers.
Calls for Stronger Smart Car Data Regulations
There is an urgent need for more robust regulation and oversight in the smart car industry to protect the privacy and security of vehicle owners. Current privacy policies fall short and lack transparency, leaving consumers with limited control over their data.
Senator Elizabeth Warren and organizations like the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (STOP) have raised concerns and highlighted the need for action. Clearer guidelines on data collection, sharing, and resale are necessary to ensure consumer privacy rights are protected.
How to Stop Your Car Spying on You
While regulatory measures are being developed, there are steps you can take to protect your privacy in smart cars:
- Consider older, non-connected models.
- Be cautious of the information you share on social media.
- Embrace open-source solutions.
- Disable tailored advertisements.
- Opt-out of data selling and behavioral advertising.
- Perform a factory reset before selling or trading in your car.
- Strengthen security measures with robust passwords and two-factor authentication.
- Exercise data caution and grant access to trusted third parties.
- Disable location sharing on your mobile device.
- Evaluate voice assistants and their data collection practices.
- Keep your smart car’s software updated.
- Use a privacy-focused VPN when connecting to your car’s Wi-Fi hotspot to add an extra layer of security.
Conclusion
Smart cars have brought about a new era of connectivity and convenience, but they also raise significant privacy concerns. The data collected by smart cars is extensive and often shared with various entities, posing risks to personal privacy and security.
Stronger regulations are needed to protect consumer privacy rights and ensure transparency in data collection and sharing practices. In the meantime, individuals can take proactive steps to safeguard their privacy in smart cars by being mindful of the information they share and utilizing security measures.
FAQs
1. Can I completely stop my smart car from collecting data?
No, as smart cars rely on data collection for various features and functionalities. However, you can take steps to limit the amount of data collected and shared by disabling certain features and opting out of data sharing programs.
2. Are there any laws in place to protect smart car data privacy?
While there are some regulations in place, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), there is a need for stronger and more comprehensive legislation to address the unique privacy challenges posed by smart cars.
3. Can I delete the data collected by my smart car?
The ability to delete data collected by smart cars varies depending on the manufacturer and model. It is important to review the privacy policy and settings of your specific smart car to understand the options available for data deletion.
4. Can I trust third-party apps and services connected to my smart car?
It is important to exercise caution when granting access to third-party apps and services connected to your smart car. Only provide access to trusted and reputable apps that have clear privacy policies and data protection measures in place.
5. How can I stay informed about the latest developments in smart car data privacy?
Stay updated by following news and developments in the smart car industry, reading privacy policies and terms of service, and being aware of any changes or updates made by your car manufacturer regarding data collection and privacy practices.