March 13, 2024, 1:29 pm | Read time: 4 minutes
In today’s digitally connected world, everyone wants access to the internet at all times. And since many people spend a lot of time on the road, modern cars as Connected Cars are capable of providing this access. However, manufacturers use this capability to learn more about the owners than they might realize.
Overview
Connected Cars – Cars share information with insurers
An internet connection in the car allows, for example, sharing access with other devices in the car, such as when passengers want to surf the web. Automatic alerts and warnings about traffic conditions and safety are also possible.
But as the New York Times now reports, the vehicles or their manufacturers also collect a wealth of information about individuals. This can include statistics on their driving habits or data on the use of apps and driver assistance systems, which they directly forward from the cars to insurance companies.
This can be more transparent depending on the company. Some manufacturers, for example, have partnerships with insurance companies. When someone wants to take out insurance, they can be informed about the data collection. But elsewhere, it happens secretly.
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Extensive data collections well hidden
Although automakers and data brokers emphasize that they have customer consent, they are said to have obtained it through opaque privacy policies in the fine print that hardly anyone reads, according to the Times.
What is collected can be extremely detailed: In one example, General Motors recorded all trips with a car over a six-month period. The associated document is said to be more than 130 pages long, as one affected person reports. It included information on when trips began and ended, distances, speeds, rapid accelerations, and abrupt braking maneuvers.
Some companies offer special features and apps to assist with driving. Conversely, data is also collected through these. However, it is said to have happened in individual cases even when drivers had turned off the corresponding software. Others use such apps and simply have no idea that they are revealing their data. Whether this also applies to Germany is not known, but it is conceivable.
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Significant changes in insurance
The sharing of data is not just for documentation purposes. It is not simply about profitable sales either. In fact, the practice directly affects customers.
Depending on how their driving behavior is assessed, insurance costs can suddenly increase–in the example of an American by up to 21 percent. Other affected individuals shared in an online forum that they cannot even get insurance because companies simply reject them. There are already initial considerations to take legal action against this.
Sex life or genetics – Connected Cars are a privacy nightmare
The revelations in the Times are not the first time something about the automotive industry’s data appetite has come to light. In 2023, the Mozilla Foundation examined privacy practices at numerous car manufacturers.
The results were shocking. Several of the world’s 25 largest brands collect sensitive personal data such as ethnicity, gender, weight, and even sexual life. Moreover, many do not even securely encrypt the data. Only two manufacturers allow customers to request the deletion of collected data. At least several inform about the collection and possible sharing of data.
Incidentally, Tesla performed the worst in this analysis. Elon Musk’s car brand is the only one that stood out negatively in all categories. Also curious: Most of the manufacturers examined had previously signed the Alliance For Automotive Innovation–a collection of self-imposed privacy principles that they apparently do not follow.