Featured in this episode of Tech News of the Week
TL;DR, if you have an internet-connected car from basically anyone, your car is collecting your data and selling it. What a surprise.
Mozilla has been running a number of public service campaigns under their nonprofit called Privacy Not Included, to highlight the tremendous number of ways that you’re being tracked and your privacy is being violated. In this case, Mozilla examined internet-connected cars from 25 brands. Every single one of them was found to be collecting information about you, including race, facial expressions, weight, and of course, where you go.
Exactly what data is collected varies by vehicle, as not all cars have mics, or cameras, or sensors on seats, etc.. but suffice it to say, if the data can be collected, it is, and it’s being sold. Nissan’s privacy policy even includes a direct callout that they record information about your sexual activity, which, you know what? I don’t think I need to know any more. I know Nissan doesn’t!
Suffice it to say this whole thing has left me feeling great about my ongoing decision to not buy a new car for the past 16 years, a trend that I will be continuing for the foreseeable future.