By g.calder
via expose-news.com
Everybody is aware of how invasive smartphone data collection is, and many know how to limit it. But very few people realise that their car is doing the same thing – sometimes even more aggressively – and with fewer legal safeguards than mobile devices.
Inside, your car is a sensor farm. GPS saves your every move, cameras record facial expressions, microphones can listen in to phone calls, accelerometers record behavioural metrics, and the infotainment system stores everything from your phone. It’s a goldmine for third parties. The features that make the driving experience safer and slicker also pipe personal data to manufacturers, insurance companies, marketers and data brokers. The Mozilla Foundation even called cars the worst product category for privacy reporting that all 25 of 25 major car brands failed basic privacy tests – and some even admitted sharing data with marketing partners without additional consent.
Here’s what’s happening, and what you can do about it.
What Your Car Quietly Collects
Some of the data harvested by your vehicle makes sense, such as GPS data for navigation or tyre pressure monitoring for safety. Other tools keep you in lane, call emergency services, and prevent collisions, but also generate rich datasets about where you go, how you drive, and even who’s in the cabin. Precise location history, in-car microphone recordings, and driving behaviour are stored and transmitted to manufacturers, and third-party brokers. Most of this is buried in default settings and app permissions, masked as convenient connectivity to users.
All of this was approved through the Biden Infrastructure Bill in 2021, along with the infamous vehicle “Kill Switch” that can shut down the vehicle remotely. That, too, is still in play.
You can check exactly what data is collected by your vehicle using websites such as Privacy4Cars or VehiclePrivacyReport.
You Can Restrict It – But There’s a Catch
Car makers can share or sell driving data and in-car collections for analytics, insurance pricing, advertising, and product development. While it’s possible to toggle certain sharing in vehicle menus, disabling some analytics also restrict features that drivers actually want such as live traffic or emergency calling options. Regaining privacy often means giving up conveniences you already paid for.
Infotainment platforms and connected services may also have their own pipelines and policies too. The end result is a confusing patchwork where opt-outs in one place don’t necessarily carry over, and ultimate privacy can be hard to achieve.
Why Is It Legal?
The Supreme Court in the US did rule that GPS tracking of a vehicle constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment, which means that law enforcement must get a warrant before tracking your car. But, amazingly, that ruling only applies to government surveillance. Corporate data collection by private companies, including car makers and insurance companies, aren’t bound by the same constitutional limits.
So, while the police need a warrant, entities profiting from your data do not. Accepting the terms and conditions at the dealership or when first using the car’s infotainment system means you’ve probably already consented to it, too.
How Cars are More Invasive Than Phones
Smartphones collect location, Bluetooth beacons, and in-app events that can be linked to advertising ID or user accounts. App permissions, OS prompts and platform rules give tyou some visibility and control, and you can set location settings to Only While Using, revoke background access, and reset advertising IDs. But car data settings are more opaque and much trickier to navigate, with controls scattered between the dealer, the manufacturer, companion apps and more.
Many people expect their phones to track them and have learned to simply manage those settings, which often come with clearer guidelines on when something is and is not actively monitoring their activity. Generally, people do not expect their cars to create a profile that is just as valuable – and in some cases even more actionable – for third parties.
They Say You Can Opt Out, But It’s Not Always True
Turning off location services or clicking to opt out does not necessarily mean you’re in the clear. Independent research and investigative journalists have found that some connected vehicles continue to transmit telemetry for diagnostics, safety updates, or “system performance” even when privacy settings are disabled.
And because the manufacturers control the software, there’s no public way to check what’s really being sent in the background. For many drivers, the only option is to trust the manufacturer’s promise – something that Mozilla’s 2023 report tells us is unwise given that every tested car brand failed basic privacy checks.
In short, some brands’ default settings mean that the only true fix is choosing a different car.
Final Thought
Analytics can save lives when the vehicle spots a crash, routes drivers around storms, or highlights a mechanical failure in the car. But it crosses into profitable surveillance when the same hardware also feeds businesses that create driver profiles, tailor prices, and targets individuals without clear consent. Privacy needs to be treated like a core safety feature too. Take time to audit your settings, restrict app access, wipe your data before service or sale, and make sure you know what will be recorded and sold before you buy your next car.
Join the Conversation
Did you know how invasive car data collection can be? Have you checked settings in your own car? What else is tracking us without our knowledge? Most of us are so focused on phone tracking that we forget what else is profiling us. Add your thoughts at the link/source.
Photo credit: pixabay.com
