U.S. Senator: What Do Our Cars Know? And Who Do They Share that Information With?

U.S. Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts has sent a much-needed letter to car manufacturers asking them to clarify a surprisingly hard question to answer: what data cars collect? Who has the ability to access that data? Private companies can often be a black box of secrecy that obscure basic facts of the consumer electronics we use. This becomes a massive problem when the devices become more technologically sophisticated and capable of collecting audio, video, geolocation data, as well as biometric information. As the letter says,

“As cars increasingly become high-tech computers on wheels, they produce vast amounts of data on drivers, passengers, pedestrians, and other motorists, creating the potential for severe privacy violations. This data could reveal sensitive personal information, including location history and driving behavior, and can help data brokers develop detailed data profiles on users.”

Not only does the letter articulate the privacy harms imposed by vehicles (and trust us, cars are some of the least privacy-oriented devices on the market), it also asks probing questions of companies regarding what data is collected, who has access, particulars about how and for how long data is stored, whether data is sold, and how consumers and the public can go about requesting the deletion of that data.

Also essential are the questions concerning the relationship between car companies and law enforcement. We know, for instance, that self-driving car companies have also built relationships with police and have given footage, on a number of occasions, to law enforcement to aid in investigations. Likewise both Tesla This article has been indexed from Deeplinks