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Modern cars collect data on practically everything that happens inside and around the vehicle: precise location of all routes, who is in the car, what plays on the radio, if the driver wears a seatbelt, if they drive above the speed limit, if they brake abruptly, and even their facial expressions. According to G1, Mozilla, responsible for the Firefox browser, analyzed the privacy policies of 25 car brands and none met the minimum security standards, leading the organization to classify cars as “the worst product category we have ever evaluated in terms of privacy”.
Most new vehicles already leave the factory connected to the internet and can transmit this data while the driver drives without noticing. McKinsey consultancy estimated that 50% of cars in circulation in 2021 had internet connection and predicted that this number will reach 95% by 2030. Among the main buyers of this data are insurance companies, which use the information to charge higher prices from some drivers, but it is impossible to know precisely where all the information goes. Some automakers admit selling this data, but they are not required to disclose who buys it. According to Darrell West, a researcher at the Brookings Institute, “basically, this means that your life can be reconstructed almost second by second”.
What cars know about you
The list of data that modern cars can collect is more extensive than most drivers imagine. Sensors in the seats, dashboard, engine, and steering wheel record information about weight, body position, braking force, and acceleration. Internal and external cameras capture images of the driver and passengers. The GPS system records each route with meter precision. The multimedia system records what plays on the radio, which apps are used, and which phone numbers are connected via Bluetooth.
According to Mozilla’s report, automakers reserve the right to collect information such as name, age, race, weight, financial data, facial expressions, and psychological trends. Kia’s privacy policy, for example, suggests that the company can collect information about drivers’ “sexual life” and overall health. Kia’s spokesperson stated that the company has never collected this data in practice and that the categories appear in the policy only because they reproduce the legal definition of “sensitive data” from the State of California. But the presence of these categories in the document reveals the potential scope of the collection.
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Insurers: the most controversial client of your data
The most concrete and documented use of data collected by cars is the sale to insurers. General Motors was targeted by state and federal agencies in the US for allegedly selling location data without drivers’ consent to LexisNexis, a company specializing in buying and selling consumer information. A driver who managed to access his file discovered that LexisNexis had 130 pages detailing all the trips made by him and his wife over six months.
After the leak, the driver was informed by an insurance broker that the data had influenced a 21% increase in his insurance premium. The US Federal Trade Commission prohibited GM from selling vehicle data for the next five years, but LexisNexis and other companies continue to trade information obtained from other manufacturers and apps. According to Michael DeLong of the Consumer Federation of America, “insurers have been collecting huge amounts of data and using it to charge higher premiums, deny coverage, or classify customers into different categories.”
19 manufacturers admit to selling your data
The Mozilla report identified that 19 of the 25 manufacturers analyzed state in their privacy policies that they may sell user data. Honda and Hyundai were accused by US senators of practices similar to GM’s, and these are just the cases that have come to light. The sale of data is legal as long as it is described in the privacy policies accepted by drivers, which in practice means accepting forms when setting up the vehicle’s multimedia system or connected apps.
“They take all the information they collect about you and use it to draw conclusions about who you are, your level of intelligence, your psychological profile, and your political beliefs,” says Jen Caltrider, an analyst who led Mozilla’s research. The information can be used to target advertising, influence hiring decisions, and even be acquired by law enforcement when they cannot obtain a court order. Once the data leaves the car, the driver loses any control over its destination.
The law that will worsen the problem
In the United States, a federal law mandates that manufacturers install in new vehicles technologies to prevent driving under the influence of alcohol or fatigue, including infrared biometric cameras capable of analyzing body language and tracking eye movements. The goal is to prevent intoxicated or exhausted people from driving, but the law does not provide any rules about the destination of the data generated by these technologies. In practice, manufacturers will have access to information equivalent to medical data without specific safeguards.
“Many of the advances in data collection in cars are presented under the argument of safety,” says Caltrider. Implementation should be delayed because the technology is not yet ready, but privacy experts warn that when biometric cameras are installed, the volume of personal data collected inside cars will jump, making the current situation seem harmless in comparison.
What you can do to protect yourself
There are measures that drivers can take, although none completely solve the problem. Not participating in insurance telemetry programs is the first step: an analysis by the State of Maryland showed that 31% of drivers had a reduction in insurance, but 24% ended up paying more and 45% saw no difference. The risk of having driving data sold outweighs the possible discounts for most drivers.
In Brazil, the LGPD (General Data Protection Law) defines rules on sharing personal data, and consumers can request a copy of the collected data and demand deletion. Some automakers offer privacy settings in the multimedia system and in the vehicle’s connected apps that limit collection and sharing. Caltrider argues, however, that consumers shouldn’t have to make so much effort to protect something that should be a guaranteed right: “Until the rules change and the data is truly ours, this problem will only get worse.”
Your car knows more about you than you imagine
Modern cars collect data about location, facial expressions, seatbelt use, driving behavior, and even biometric information, and Mozilla has classified cars as the worst product category in privacy ever evaluated. 19 of the 25 automakers analyzed admit they can sell this data, insurers use it to increase prices, and a new American law will expand collection with infrared cameras without rules on the destination of the information. As long as laws do not keep up with technology, the driver is the product just as much as the passenger.
Have you read your car’s privacy policy? Tell us in the comments if you knew your vehicle collects this information, if you’ve noticed changes in insurance that might be linked to driving data, and how you evaluate Mozilla’s classification. We want to hear your opinion.
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