In the digital age, where information flows freely and the exchange of data has become an integral part of our daily lives, the concept of data privacy has assumed paramount significance. Data privacy refers to the fundamental right and practice of safeguarding individuals’ personal information, ensuring that it remains confidential and protected from unauthorized access or use.
The rapid advancement of technology and the proliferation of digital platforms have created a vast digital landscape where data is generated, shared, and stored at an unprecedented scale. This vast reservoir of personal data encompasses everything from our online interactions and shopping habits to our medical records and financial transactions. Consequently, the need to address data privacy concerns has never been more critical.
A recent study conducted by Mozilla Foundation Has cause the spotlight on a new form of data infringement. Mozilla Foundation surveyed 25 car brands and found glaring data privacy issues in nearly all of them.
The foundation has identified the type of data that owners of these new-age cars are at risk of providing:
Medical data
The way the vehicle is used (such as driving speed)
Music and radio preferences
user’s name
Address
phone number,
email address
Photos
calendar information
driver’s race
genetic information
immigration status
Driver fatigue
Eye movement
Speech
Heart rate
GPS location
Travel history
The phone you download your car’s app is also at risk
Mobile device location
To-do lists
The world around your car is also being sensed- weather, road conditions, traffic, movement, etc.
Most of these companies have used very abstract terms to inform the kind of data they are collecting- words like demographic data, images, sensor data are used- which could mean anything. They could be sensing your heart rate, stress levels maybe even oxygen levels.
85% of the brands in the study admit that they share personal user data with service providers, data brokers and businesses. 88% of them create inferences about your data to predict your outcomes.
There is a good chance that these companies are combining the data they gather with data acquired from third parties. This makes them a data goldmine.
76% of these companies have said that they are selling personal data.
Lets take a look at how different companies have performed. Some cars are speculated to collect information regarding user’s sex life (Nissan and Kia). Tesla, the leader in new-age cars- is said to have shared personal information of every category flagged. Worst performing in privacy. Let alone data collection, these brands are not even upholding security standards. Data breaches and hacking are common phenomena. It is said that Toyota was responsible for leaking data of 2.15 million users from 2013-23. Volkswagen and its daughter company Audi- responsible for 3.3 million users’ data leak. Nissan’s policy says they collect data like sexual activity, health diagnosis data, genetic data, preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, predispositions, behaviour, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes.
This kind of behaviour in car companies is particularly alarming as users are paying for the car and still getting no privacy. It still makes sense for social media sites since they are free of cost to operate. But when a personal vehicle is no longer personal, it is a cause for concern.
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Kudos!
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