My car knows nothing about me…for now

After 20 years driving the same great car, it’s time for me to buy a new one. And yes, of course it will be electric! I’d rather hydrogen but we’re not quite there yet with the infrastructure.

What’s my problem?

What’s giving me the biggest trouble with my decision? Not the colour, not deciding which amazing options I want (you should see the difference 20 years of technological advances can make – no more cassette players, for one!), and not even the range. It’s how my new car will use and share the personal information it’s going to collect about me.

Alarm bells were ringing about cars collecting data years ago. The New York Times privacy project ran an article by Bill Hanvey, president and chief executive officer of the Auto Care Association, back in May of 2019 where he describes cars produced today as “essentially smart phones on wheels”. Good analogy but his article goes on to explore a rather different aspect of privacy, that of who controls the data (not going to say “own”, lest readers fly into a rage over that controversy) once it’s collected for the purpose of maintenance and repair. He does touch on the topic I’m most concerned about, which is that companies are tight-lipped about the data they collect, what they use it for, and who they sell it to. Because given the very little information provided by the car companies, you’d think they’d at least allow consumers to “opt out”. But they don’t.

Much of the data collected is obviously valuable for car makers. How a vehicle behaves under different circumstances is crucial information used to improve things like performance and safety. So even as an “out of position driver”, this is something with which I can get onboard. (And thanks to Invisible Women author Caroline Criado Perez for her in-depth look at how car makers ignore women. Boy, did that book make me angry!)

Sensors and location tracking

When it comes to health information, which receives special consideration under most privacy legislation, built-in sensors and always-on-GPS-tracking could pull together quite a  personal profile on me based on where I eat, if I go to a gym regularly (in my car), and any weight gain. Information like this is a bit more questionable in terms of purpose for collection.

Imagine I’m in my 20s (not) and over a period of three months put on, say 12 pounds (definitely hope not). Will my car company start sending me advertising for nearby mum and baby yoga sessions (because they know where I live, right)? Or sell my marketing profile to financial institutions promoting registered education savings products?

Imagine I’m in an accident and sustain an injury to my back. Which insurers with access to my data will make assumptions and draw conclusions from my personal data that could impact an insurance claim? And which ones will use AI with inherent biases to slice and dice my data only to further discriminate against me in terms of which health services to provide or settlements to offer?

Legislative solutions?

I’m not sure that legislation at this point has enough teeth for carmakers to be worried about this kind of thing. Or to change their practices. Maybe it’s just that they are not in the crosshairs of regulators (yet), because we are struggling on an international level with other privacy-intrusive technology like facial recognition. So I think consumers may need to add pressure first, and I’m torn between predicting 2020 as the year of serious pushback from consumers on privacy-invasion and it being the year of outright weariness from the fight. 

In the meantime, I’d love to hear our readers’ thoughts about new car technology and the threat to privacy. And of course, if any carmakers out there are privacy-proactive, that would help with my decision!