Among those filed recently is one from Ford for a system that gathers driver data to personalise in-car advertisements, which raises lots of concerns over privacy. This technological advancement can collect types of information from a car’s GPS location to its driving habits and even conversations inside the vehicle. It aims to give targeted ads, real-time, which has raised issues among some privacy advocates over the level of surveillance this system will introduce.
While Ford explains patenting something does not equate to its actual implementation, the idea of the system raises some red flags. It shines a light on at least some of the dangers with gathering vast amounts of data and how that impacts any and all privacy concerns related to targeting consumers at the wheel.
What Does Ford’s Patent Explain?
The patent explains the way in which information would be gathered and used by the system for delivering specific ads:
1. GPS Location: This one would identify where the car is and then which advertisements to pop up based on where various shops are in the area. Thus, if a driver is close to a fast food, then they may see an ad for that specific chain on the car’s infotainment system.
2. Driving Situations: Ads can be targeted based on traffic conditions and speed of driving as well. When a driver is caught in heavy traffic, for example, ads might be displayed related to entertainment tools like audiobooks or podcasts.
3. Historical Data:
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