Cars collect a lot of our personal data, and car companies disclose a lot of that data to third parties. It’s often unclear what’s being collected, and what’s being shared and with whom. A recent New York Times article highlighted how data is shared by G.M. with insurance companies, sometimes without clear knowledge from the driver. If you’re curious about what your car knows about you, you might be able to find out. In some cases, you may even be able to opt out of some of that sharing of data.
Ok I’m ready for the US to implement proper data protection laws now
We all know that’s not happening. While people with money have political power over the decisions of ones in office, they will always have the upper hand. That’s how we reached a point where a 2024 car had a paid subscription for the climate control
People sleepwalking through life is how we have a climate control subscription. A large enough boycott of all their cars would cure them of malfeasance for several years.
This is why we have ads on all the streaming services now, and why we have a fuckload of streaming services instead of just one or two. This is why HP thinks they can do ink subscriptions.
See, that’s the issue. The reason why we have all these streaming services, with nothing on them, is because people just don’t care. They’ll still sub to 8 of them at the same time, just like they’ll get a car from a brand that’s fucked them over before. A boycott implies that people don’t live life on autopilot
Looks like a lot of info is shared through the manufacturer’s app which interacts with the car. Easy to avoid if you don’t install the app.
What we’re all here looking to avoid is the car itself uploading data. The article isn’t as clear about that, I guess since it depends so much on your exact model of vehicle.
opt-out
Haha. Naive.
Me: Oh please mister surveillance capitalism, oh please don’t track my personal data please.
MrSC: heh heh heh. Sure, kid. You got it. thumbs up
My car is a 2013, my truck is a 2003, they don’t know shit.
I don’t think most older vehicles have any internet connection, regardless of what safety equipment they have. Or am I wrong?
Depends on how old, but OnStar has been around since before 2000.
Early implementations may have been less creepy, but I’m not sure there’s any way to know.
They know a lot less than you think they do…and none of it is person data. It’s all drivetrain and running diagnostic stuff. Very few cars in 2013 had apps for the vehicles…and pretty much none had them in 2003.
Well, if you think connected apps are the only way cars invade your privacy…. That’s cute, good for you.
Road speed, accelerator position, brake pedal position, number of seatbelts buckled or not, GPS position and heading, time since key on and probably at least a dozen other parameters I can’t think of off the top of my head are all being recorded. Those certainly are personal data that can and will be used against you in the event of a crash.
