Is Your Car Watching You?

“Just the list for people in a hurry…”

Note: This is not a substitute for the full article. It's a just a summary of the things you should know about automotive data collection

  Modern cars have become computers on wheels

  They have hundreds of sensors and collect a lot of data

  It's not clear who's getting the data or how they're using it

  Connecting a smartphone to your car makes its data available to the car's computers

  Most new cars sold recently have a built-in Internet connection

  Car makers want to see data to improve safety, send service alerts, and optimize fuel efficiency

  Insurance companies want to see data to reward good drivers and penalize bad ones

  We might own the car, but we do not own the data it generates

  California has a new privacy law that lets its residents opt out of data collection

  But there's no Federal law (or laws in other states) that protects privacy

  You can protect yourself by connecting your phone in a way to get power without a data connection

  You can use an app to remove personal information from rentals and other cars you've driven

  And if your car uses OnStar, there is a way to disable it and prevent data collection

Please read the article for details. If you're confused by anything let us know so we can help.