By Chris Isidore | CNN
New York – There's probability your automobile knows all the things about you. Where you were. How fast you drive. If only the brakes might have been operated a bit of more gently. Even the way you look, because of the cameras pointed directly at your face.
This sort of data collection has been around for years. And in some cases, the info was sold by automakers to 3rd parties, resembling insurance firms, which used the info on driving habits to extend insurance premiums for some customers.
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It has also been utilized by law enforcement, with essentially the most recent high-profile example being the Tesla Cybertruck that exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year's Day. Police officers investigating the incident have thanked Tesla for quickly sharing data concerning the suspect who killed himself within the truck.
“I especially have to thank Elon Musk,” Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill said at a news conference, noting that the Tesla CEO had given authorities “a lot of additional information,” including sending videos directly of Tesla charging stations to assist them of their efforts to trace down the motive force.
But while law enforcement praises corporations for sharing driver data, others worry that almost all of the data collected could violate people's privacy. They fear that without restrictions, potential invasions of privacy will only worsen and automakers will have the opportunity to become profitable off the wealth of data they now have.
Not a number of details about a number of information
In recent years, General Motors sold data to third-party data corporations, which then sold details about drivers' driving habits to insurance firms. The company stopped sales after one New York Times The story concerning the practice in April sparked backlash, saying the corporate launched its so-called “Smart Driver” program to “promote safer driving behavior for the benefit of customers,” but customer feedback led to the discontinuation program.
However, this motion didn’t prevent the corporate from being sued by the Texas Attorney General in August, as the corporate had already sold data on greater than 14 million vehicles, including 1.8 million Texans. This lawsuit continues to be pending.
And that doesn't mean the practice of selling data has stopped, said auto analyst Sam Abuelsamid of communications company Telemetry. He said greater than 90% of recent cars can send information back to their respective manufacturers, with the one clue for drivers buried deep in vehicle manuals or within the positive print in sales contracts.
“Technically they had permission,” Abuelssamid said. “But it’s something that people should be aware of, but they aren’t.”
Some states and federal legislatures have also called for stronger controls on the gathering and sale of information. Privacy experts say that is an increasingly concerning issue because so few automobile owners realize how much information is being collected about them.
Possible advantages, but no control
He said even when automobile owners knew data was being collected, most didn't take into consideration how all the data can be used or the financial value it provided to automakers.
“Automotive companies don’t just collect data for fun,” he said. “It’s all about using the data profitably.”
Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Ed Markey wrote a letter to automakers a yr ago asking about their data collection, and the businesses defended their practices. They portrayed the gathering of data concerning the drivers of their cars as a lofty try to improve the vehicles and as a part of their dream of a greater world, relatively than concerned with the financial advantages they’d have derived from their efforts.
GM said the info can be used to create “our vision of a world with no accidents, no emissions and no congestion.” At the center of this vision is leveraging vehicle connectivity to supply safety and convenience to our customers.”
But while the corporate said data collection only occurs for patrons who’re “opted in,” that statement got here before The New York Times' revelations about its practices forced it to alter its policies.
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group that represents most major automakers apart from Tesla, has defended the practice across the industry.
“No, your car isn’t spying,” is the title of 1 memo The group prepared for the subject. “It protects you.” The data collection was not an intervention, but relatively a “,” the group emphasized in italics.
“Vehicle telematics data supports the proper functioning of a vehicle and its onboard computer systems,” the group said. “It generates information that can significantly improve safety, contribute to compliance with government safety regulations and enable a range of (optional) connectivity and personalization features for customers.” And it said the data collected could enable higher emergency response within the event of a vehicle accident.
The group wrote that automakers are following voluntarily adopted guidelines that require even greater protection than required by law for particularly sensitive data, including a vehicle's location and driver behavior information. And it was written that it will support federal laws that might make such policies into law.
But privacy advocates say there can be problems with national laws that would prevent states from adopting stricter regulations, resembling: B. State privacy regulations and bans on sharing driving data with insurance firms, as is the case in California. And they’re concerned about what can be considered “consent” from drivers.
“GM customers didn't think they would sell the data to third parties and that it would affect their insurance premiums,” Choffnes said. He said there needs to be stricter rules about “what form of consent is required and whether consumers can decide what data is sent and what is not.”
The CNN Wire
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