Car companies are able to trace drivers’ habits and glean personal information from their observations using technology included in their vehicles, an investigation from the Washington Post has shown.
A consumer, when buying a car, can agree or not agree to a stipulation in a buyer’s contract allowing a car company to do so.
The Washington Post’s investigation alleges that such agreements are often buried in a contract.
Car companies can glean driver habits such as speed, frequent destinations and the use of seat belts using technology in the cars (stock photo of traffic)
Car manufacturers – along with third party data companies that analyze the data – say the information can be used to alleviate traffic and help alert authorities to car crashes quicker (stock photo of surveillance)
Car companies such as Honda, for example, are able to figure out a driver’s speed, frequent and occasional destinations and the use of a vehicle’s seat belts among other pieces of information.
At least 10million cars are under such surveillance and that that number is on the rise, the Washington Post figures.
‘The thing that car manufacturers realize now is that they’re not only hardware companies anymore. They’re software companies,’ the chief marketing officer of a car data company told the Washington Post.
Honda said in a statement to the Washington Post that it ‘cannot provide specifics at this time’.
General Motors said it ‘does not collect or use any personally identifiable customer data without a customer’s consent’.
Ford, another heavyweight car company, replied with a similar comment to that of General Motors, the Washington Post stated.
Privacy experts worry that car companies may now be able to access to much personal information (stock photo of traffic)
Toyota states that it may share customer data with ‘companies affiliated with Toyota’ provided it has permission from the customer.
Some experts worry that the amount and type of data that car companies can glean about customer habits may constitute a breach of privacy.
But what the car companies are doing is not, technically speaking, illegal.
A law professor told the Washington Post: ‘There’s no car privacy statute that car companies have to abide by.’
But car companies – along with third parties that work with them to mine the data – insist they use the information for altruistic purposes such as alleviating traffic by monitoring road usage or helping to alert authorities who can then provide rapid support in the event of car crashes.