Automakers Monetize Consumer Data But Fail to Protect Privacy, Lawyer Says
Car companies are increasingly monetizing driver data while failing to protect consumer privacy, said Robinson+Cole lawyer Kathryn Rattigan in a blog post Thursday.
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“Auto manufacturers quietly built an ecosystem that rivals Big Tech in its reach” while consumers were preoccupied with smartphone or social media tracking, the privacy attorney said. That ecosystem “completely fails at protecting consumer privacy,” with not one of the 25 major car brands reviewed in a Mozilla Foundation study from 2023 receiving a passing grade.
Rattigan noted that the data cars collect isn’t just location or driving speed but can include biological metrics like weight and heart rate and information from connected phones, such as call logs, texts and even demographics.
“Carmakers hide their consent models deep in paperwork signed under pressure in a dealership” that many consumers don’t read, which is different from smartphone apps that are required to ask for permissions, she said.
“This has transformed cars into ongoing surveillance devices whose output is not for your benefit, but to be shopped around in a shadowy secondary data market, sold to insurers, marketers, and sometimes even government agencies,” Rattigan added.
The California Consumer Privacy Act is one example of state-level legislation that has begun to delve into this issue. Federal lawmakers are just beginning to examine the issue, according to Rattigan.
“As cars increasingly become platforms for subscriptions and software updates, the industry must realize that trust is everything,” Rattigan said, noting that lawsuits are creeping up. If car company practices aren’t fixed, “a harsh regulatory reckoning is inevitable.”
“The road to the future, it turns out, is paved with data,” she said. “The question is, do we still control the dashboard, or has the car quietly taken the wheel?”