In an age where personal data privacy is increasingly under scrutiny, it may come as a surprise that the worst culprits for privacy infringements could be right in our garages. A recent report published by the Mozilla Foundation has uncovered alarming revelations about the privacy practices of the automotive industry, dubbing cars as “the official worst category of products for privacy.”
The Mozilla Foundation has evaluated the privacy policies of numerous businesses throughout the years. The Mozilla Foundation is well-known for its dedication to the wellbeing of the internet and its “Privacy Not Included” series. The results of their research into the car industry, however, are nothing short of shocking.
None of the 25 car companies reviewed in the report—which included household names like Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen, BMW, and Tesla—met the non-profit organization’s baseline privacy standards. Surprisingly, a whopping 92 percent of automakers gave users little to no control over their personal information, while 84 percent readily shared user information with outside parties.
The types of information collected ranged from mundane data like driving habits to highly sensitive details like medical records and even intimate aspects of individuals’ lives, including sexual preferences. This invasive data collection raises serious concerns about the potential misuse of personal information.
Tesla emerged as the worst-performing brand in the study, receiving poor marks across all privacy categories. The controversial autopilot system was also labeled “untrustworthy” due to its involvement in multiple accidents.
What’s particularly disconcerting is that 84 percent of the car brands were found to share personal user data with service providers, data brokers, and potentially questionable entities, with 76 percent claiming the right to sell this information. Furthermore, 56 percent were willing to share user data with government and law enforcement if requested.
In a surprising twist, the report noted that even notoriously data-hungry industries like mental health apps exhibited better data privacy practices than automakers. The discrepancy is alarming, highlighting the urgent need for the automotive sector to improve its privacy standards.
A call to action has been sparked by the Mozilla Foundation report. They have started a petition asking automakers to stop using intrusive data collection techniques and for customers to hold these businesses responsible for their privacy policies. Safeguarding user privacy should be a top priority for all companies, including the automotive industry, in a world where personal data is becoming more and more valuable.
