Published on January 8, 2025 at 10:24. / Modified on January 8, 2025 at 12:06.
Like our phones, our cars are increasingly connected. Behind the wheel, car manufacturers are doubling their imagination to include different applications to make driving enjoyable. From real-time GPS information to vehicle status, entertainment and information services, a whole bunch of sensors, software or connected on-board equipment equip the most recent models.
Enough to generate and collect a lot of personal information on the driver of the vehicle, his passengers and their environment, in real time. A team from the University of New South Wales in Sydney studied how connected cars can transmit this data.
Journeys, driving behavior, certain personal preferences are affected, as well as voice interactions or intimate health information (from cameras for fatigue detection or cardiac sensors, for example). In total, nearly 70 different types of data can be collected according to the study published by these researchers. Data then transmitted to the car manufacturer as well as other companies, such as insurance brokers or data brokers.
No seat belt for our data
This situation is also causing a small scandal in the United States. The manufacturer General Motors is under fire from critics. A New York Times journalist discovered that the Smart Driver program in Chevrolet cars compiled data from drivers, even if they had not given their consent. Data then sent to data brokers.
The Mozilla Foundation had already sounded the alarm in 2023. None of the twenty-five major car brands analyzed at the time respected basic standards for the protection of personal data. Worse still, 84% of manufacturers shared or resold this information.
Swiss
