Modern cars do more than get you from Point A to Point B. With sophisticated, Internet-enabled onboard computers, they provide vehicle manufacturers with a truckload of data on where you’re driving, what you’re buying, demographics and more. What are they doing with all this information? That’s what the newly created California Privacy Protection Agency would like to know, so it has launched a review of the auto industry’s data privacy practices.
“Modern vehicles are effectively connected computers on wheels,” CPPA Executive Director Ashkan Soltani said in a statement. “They’re able to collect a wealth of information via built-in apps, sensors and cameras, which can monitor people both inside and near the vehicle.”
With more than 35 million vehicles on the road in the Golden State, that is a lot of data for these car-makers to scoop up. The announcement was hailed by advocacy group Consumer Watchdog’s Justin Kloczko.
“These companies know more about us than we know about ourselves, and they’re the ones in control of our personal information, not us,” Kloczko said.
The group noted that commercial surveillance of automotive data is a $400 billion industry. But even more concerning, they say, is that the data, which many people are unaware is even being collected, can also be shared with the law enforcement. The Los Angeles Police Department and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security are among the agencies that have been supplied with people’s text messages, their location and even which vehicle door they opened and when.
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