- Senators who care about privacy are calling on the FTC and FCC to investigate automakers’ policies.
- They say automakers aren’t doing enough and sometimes share sensitive data with authorities without authorization.
- An investigation found that only five companies required a warrant to release GPS data.
Modern cars resemble computers on wheels. They are fully equipped with complex systems including cameras, GPS trackers, audio recorders and more. In addition, they are able to store all this data for a longer period of time. Now US Senators are calling on both the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to do more to protect consumers. What they revealed in letters to each administration reveals serious data breaches.
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In the first letter to the FCC, Congresswoman Debbie Dingell called on the committee to “develop a comprehensive understanding and solutions to the misuse of connected vehicle technologies.” They are driven by documented cases of domestic abusers using connectivity tools in vehicles to track and exert control over their victims.
Read: California wants to use in-car technology to prevent you from going over the 10 mph speed limit
She hopes the outcome of this letter and the efforts of other survivors will provide a way to quickly revoke or block a perpetrator’s access to sensitive vehicle data. Additionally, the solution would also prevent an abuser from using something like a service request to restore that access or data. What two other senators say they found is that over a dozen automakers support Congresswoman Dingell’s demands on privacy.
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According to Ron Wyden and Edward Markey, nine automakers, Toyota, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Mazda, BMW, Volkswagen, Subaru and Nissan, have admitted to sharing location data with authorities without authorization. They say these automakers are breaking their own voluntary promise made in 2014 to require a warrant or court order before releasing GPS location information. Of the 14 auto companies involved in the study, only Ford, General Motors, Stellantis, Honda and Tesla require approval for this data.
Of these brands, only Tesla will notify a customer of such government requests. “Government agencies already have to obtain a search warrant to request the contents of Americans’ emails, backup their private photos to the cloud, and search their phones. Location data is equally sensitive and deserves the same stringent protection,” the letter to the FTC said. The real question is what these two organizations will even do to protect consumer privacy.
As the New York Times points out, data collection will likely only increase as the years go by. The NHTSA is already working to require blood alcohol meters and speed warning devices in vehicles. Additionally, insurance companies have already used other data to increase rates for consumers. It seems that the only way to prevent this type of information from falling into the wrong hands is to drive a vehicle without the appropriate technology, unless the two authorities mandate that vehicle data only be shared with permission may be.
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