Cars are a privacy disaster

You literally can't escape your data being harvested and sold to the highest bidder.

Photo by Artiom Vallat on Unsplash

I try not to do multiple posts in a day, but sometimes I just have a WTaF moment like when I clicked on this article: “Modern Cars are a ‘Privacy Nightmare’”

Over the last 15 years or so, increasingly all cars that you buy, even the lowest cost ones, are internet connected, with little GSM transceivers, to provide things like emergency services, monthly monitoring for faults, in car navigation, and other “services”.

Sometimes these services are good (like the ability to us my cell phone to check to see if I remembered to lock it, and then actually lock it if I was an idiot). Sometimes they are bad, like BMW selling subscriptions for features that are included but not enabled (c.f. BMW and their subs for heated seats).

Regardless, modern cars are a bonanza of data, and some vendors are less scrupulous than others¹.

But this tidbit from Nissan’s owners manual is chilling:

The report’s authors also expressed concern over Nissan’s policies, which say Nissan can collect sensitive personal information such as “religious or philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation, sexual activity,” among other examples.

How the fuck do they gather information on religious beliefs? Do they track how often you are parked at a Mosque? Or sexual orientation, do they watch you having sex in the car?

Christ on a crouton, that is really out of bounds shit right there.

Naturally, Tesla is the worst ranked, because, of course.

1. My late model Acura seems to be fairly transparent, and even has a streamlined process for deleting all personal data when you sell or send your car to a crusher

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