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SENATORS EXPOSE CAR COMPANIES’ TERRIBLE DATA PRIVACY PRACTICES

DEEPLINKS BLOG
By Thorin Klosowski
July 29, 2024



SENATORS EXPOSE CAR COMPANIES’ TERRIBLE DATA PRIVACY PRACTICES

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 * Español

In a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last week, Senators Ron Wyden
and Edward Markey urged the FTC to investigate several car companies caught
selling and sharing customer information without clear consent. Alongside
details previously gathered from reporting by The New York Times, the letter
also showcases exactly how much this data is worth to the car companies selling
this information.


Car companies collect a lot of data about driving behavior, ranging from how
often you brake to how rapidly you accelerate. This data can then be sold off to
a data broker or directly to an insurance company, where it’s used to calculate
a driver’s riskiness, and adjust insurance rates accordingly. This surveillance
is often defended by its promoters as a way to get discounts on insurance, but
that rarely addresses the fact your insurance rates may actually go up.

If your car is connected to the internet or has an app, you may have
inadvertently “agreed” to this type of data sharing when setting it up without
realizing it. The Senators’ letter asserts that Hyundai shares drivers’ data 
without seeking their informed consent, and that GM and Honda used deceptive
practices during signup.

When it comes to the price that companies can get for selling your driving data,
the numbers range wildly, but the data isn’t as valuable as you might imagine.
The letter states that Honda sold the data on about 97,000 cars to an analytics
company, Verisk—which turned around and sold the data to insurance companies—for
$25,920, or 26 cents per car. Hyundai got a better deal, but still not
astronomical numbers: Verisk paid Hyundai $1,043,315.69, or 61 cents per car. GM
declined to share details about its sales.


The letter also reveals that while GM stopped sharing driving data after The New
York Times’ investigation, it did not stop sharing location data, which it’s
been sharing for years. GM collects and shares location data on every car that’s
connected to the internet, and doesn’t offer a way to opt out beyond disabling
internet-connectivity altogether. According to the letter, GM refused to name
the company it’s sharing the location data with currently. While GM claims the
location data is de-identified, there is no way to de-identify location data.
With just one data point, where the car is parked most often, it becomes obvious
where a person lives.

Car makers should not sell our driving and location history to data brokers or
insurance companies, and they shouldn’t make it as hard as they do to figure out
what data gets shared and with whom. This level of tracking is a nightmare on
its own, and is made worse for certain kinds of vulnerable populations, such as
survivors of domestic abuse.

The three automakers listed in the letter are certainly not the only ones
sharing data without real consent, and it’s likely there are other data brokers
who handle this type of data. The FTC should investigate this industry further,
just as it has recently investigated many other industries that threaten data
privacy. Moreover, Congress and the states must pass comprehensive consumer data
privacy legislation with strong data minimization rules and requirements for
clear, opt-in consent.


RELATED ISSUES

Locational Privacy
Location Data Brokers
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Deeplinks Blog by Catalina Sanchez | June 4, 2024


CAR MAKERS SHOULDN’T BE SELLING OUR DRIVING HISTORY TO DATA BROKERS AND
INSURANCE COMPANIES

You accelerated multiple times on your way to Yosemite for the weekend. You
braked when driving to a doctor appointment. If your car has internet
capabilities, GPS tracking or OnStar, your car knows your driving history.And
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EFF TO COURT: ELECTRONIC ANKLE MONITORING IS BAD. SHARING THAT DATA IS EVEN
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RELATED ISSUES

Locational Privacy
Location Data Brokers



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