The Opt Out: Cars are spying on us, and we're letting them

You are more than just a data point. This article will help you regain your privacy

Americans spend a lot of time in the car. Whether you’re commuting for a long time, enjoying a ride with friends, or just enjoying being alone in the parking lot, the car may feel like an extension of your home – a private space that allows you to sing or seek peace throughout the day.

Unfortunately, if you are driving a car made in recent years, the environment is not as private as you think. Automakers have been adding sensors, cameras and microphones to their vehicles to improve safety and usability, but these technical components also collect a large amount of data that the automotive industry and other companies are selling and sharing. Don't think this applies only to car owners: if you rent a car or just sit in a passenger seat, your privacy is also at risk.

These new cars know what you say, where you go, and maybe even who you sleep with and how often. This is terrible, but even more terrifying is that consumers currently have little choice but to agree.

It's not just a computer with wheels

The car has been equipped with on-board computers and sensors for some time. The application of these tools has always been quite practical - letting you know if the tank is almost empty or the machine needs oil change, and even allowing you to get a complete system diagnosis via Bluetooth. But with the advancement of technology, the role of electronic products in every car has also been improved. Now, cars can help you master parallel parking, respond to your voice commands, and even remind you of other drivers’ presence when you change lanes.

Jen Caltrider, project director of the Mozilla Foundation's "Privacy does not include" series of privacy-focused consumer product reviews, said: "A lot of things can be used as security features, but [auto companies] won't let go of collecting data and making money from it." Opportunities. They are not just for safety.”

For example, the same navigation tool that guides you to your destination is collecting your location data, and the sensor that shows which passenger does not have a seat belt can tell if you are alone, where people are sitting, and if there are any movements. These features alone provide hundreds or even thousands of data points every day, sent directly to the automaker’s servers. Caltrider said it is difficult to tell whether the information is encrypted.

In addition to the content tracked by the car's sensors and cameras, the manufacturer also knows you from other sources. If you are buying a car, data collection starts with each time you visit a dealer or brand’s website, and it continues when you seek help from a bank or other type of financial institution to pay for the car. Then, when you drive your new car home, the manufacturer continues to collect data through the car app. You can choose not to use the app, but you may lose access to any vehicle features that require it, such as remote ignition. Then there are what Caltrider and her team call “connection services,” including insurance companies and navigation and entertainment apps like Here and Sirius XM that have basically become database brokers in the automotive data industry. The bad news is that it is not clear how information flows, how it is shared, and where and how it is stored.

Your car may know too much about you

In September, Caltrider and her research team at the Mozilla Foundation conducted an in-depth analysis of the privacy policies of 25 auto companies operating in the United States, including the most popular auto companies: Toyota, Ford, Chevrolet and Honda . result? The Mozilla team tagged the car as the worst-private product category it has reviewed.

You are often confused when you read the privacy policy of any app or device. Tech companies have been writing privacy policies for decades, and they often contain broad or vague terms that make you feel like they care about your data — or at least not explicitly that they don’t care. Car privacy policies vary: more explicit and totally ridiculous.

Caltrider said, "Auto companies are entering the tech sector." "But they are not experienced in this area, which is really obvious."

One of the craziest privacy policies in the Mozilla Foundation report is Nissan's privacy policy, which requires users to agree to collect sensitive information, including sexual orientation, sexual behavior, health diagnostic data, and genetic information. The document also states that the data can be sold or disclosed to third parties for targeted advertising. It is unclear how Nissan collects this data or whether it can do it at the moment, but just by purchasing Nissan cars it is problematic in itself.

These requirements not only affect drivers and owners, as the agreement is a vague area in the automotive privacy policy area. On one hand, cars don’t provide the same control over data collection as your phone does. Most of the time, owners will see a permission request displayed in a pop-up when they first set up a new car, which they may not be able to return and revoke later.

This also means that anyone entering the vehicle has received implicit consent. Privacy policies like Subaru clearly state that terms and conditions affect everyone on the vehicle, whether they are the registered owner of the vehicle or not. This means the company has the Subaru owners responsible for informing all passengers of their privacy policy and assuming that people agree to the policy simply by entering the car. To be sure, no carpooling driver or polite colleague will read you a long list of the various types of data collection you need to agree to before sending you home.

Other participants in the industry, including automakers, vehicle data centers, and insurance companies, comfort worried drivers and passengers by promising that the data they collect and save is anonymous, meaning that it cannot be traced back to a particular person. While anonymized data is a common practice designed to protect personal privacy, research shows that it is not always effective and that any owner of anonymized data can be easily re-issued when information is combined with other data sets. Identify. This is especially true when it comes to location data, Caltrider said.

As we mentioned, targeted advertising is one of the main uses of car companies and third parties to collect vehicle data, but it is not the only one. More than half of the manufacturers analyzed in the Mozilla Foundation report said they can “share your information with the government or law enforcement in response to a ‘request’.” This leaves a lot of room for abuse, as there is no detail on whether this request can be as informal as calling or emailing the right person, or whether it must be a strong document (such as a court order) .

Unlike home security cameras, it is difficult to say exactly how many times these companies respond to requests from police and other law enforcement agencies. But a 2021 Forbes survey shows that the Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Bureau (ICE) have been asking three companies in the automotive data industry, including General Motors, The car company is the parent company of Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC.

Supervision is the answer

The U.S. auto industry is huge – in 2022, it brought more than $156 billion in revenue to the U.S. economy, with more than 75% of Americans owning cars. You might think that such a rich market would include several car brands that a user with a strong sense of privacy can choose from, but the Mozilla Foundation report is clear: when it comes to data protection, they are all terrible.

This leaves people who need to buy a new car with little choice but to agree to data collection. And their passengers have fewer choices. Because it’s not just luxury cars equipped with precision sensors and cameras — classic sedans like Toyota Corolla and family SUVs like Ford Edge also come with these sensors and cameras. While we would love to say there is a personalized DIY method to regain your privacy, that is not the case. You must appeal to those in power.

Caltrider said: "Agitated and contact your elected officials." "The United States should have had a strong federal privacy law long ago."

She also advises against using the car's app, but admits it's a stopgap measure and may not be an option for some. Some features people need, such as being able to warm up a car in cold weather by starting a car remotely, require the use of this software.

Utilizing our power as voters and asking our elected officials to create laws that protect our data is our best opportunity to regain the privacy we once found in the car. Car companies won't change themselves—just like tech companies, they don't have the motivation to do so.

Caltrider said: "And they don't have a long history of moral behavior." "The opposite is true."

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