Court: Automakers Can Record & Intercept Owner Text Messages

A federal judge on Tuesday refused to bring back a class action lawsuit alleging four auto manufacturers had violated Washington state’s privacy laws by using vehicles’ on-board infotainment systems to record and intercept customers’ private text messages and mobile phone call logs.

The Seattle-based appellate judge ruled that the practice does not meet the threshold for an illegal privacy violation under state law, handing a big win to automakers Honda, Toyota, Volkswagen and General Motors, which are defendants in five related class action suits focused on the issue. One of those cases, against Ford, had been dismissed on appeal previously. more

The Biggest Spies are Now Hiding in Your Car

Cars have undergone a major transformation in recent years.

Traditional models are slowly being replaced by new-age, technology-packed vehicles. Telematics and infotainment that provide convenience, entertainment and security are a driving force behind this revolution.

But they are also turning modern vehicles into one of the biggest threats to personal privacy...

An infotainment system is a collection of hardware and software in automobiles that provides vehicle status information, as well as audio or video entertainment...

In doing so, day after day, these systems generate torrents of data (around 25 gigabytes per hour), a portion of which is transmitted to the manufacturer as well as stored on your car’s storage device. The amount of data recorded is truly impressive and disconcerting, and includes various technical vehicle parameters, GPS location, favorite destinations, speed and so on. 

Once a user connects their smartphone to the console via USB (or wirelessly), the amount of data shared with the car increases even further. By pairing up with the device, the infotainment system downloads (and saves) even more data, adding to its database information that previously existed only on your smartphone. This includes your favorite music, apps, social media, emails, SMS history, voice data and more.

Used cars are even worse. Their data logs contain records of every phone ever connected to them, making them a veritable treasure trove for savvy hackers and government agencies alike. more

Just Like Your Phone - Your Car is Spying on You

If you’re driving a late model car or truck, chances are that the vehicle is mostly computers on wheels, collecting and wirelessly transmitting vast quantities of data to the car manufacturer not just on vehicle performance but personal information, too, such as your weight, the restaurants you visit, your music tastes and places you go.

A car can generate about 25 gigabytes of data every hour and as much as 4,000 gigabytes a day, according to some estimates. The data trove in the hands of car makers could be worth as much as $750 billion by 2030, the consulting firm McKinsey has estimated. But consumer groups, aftermarket repair shops and privacy advocates say the data belongs to the car’s owners and the information should be subject to data privacy laws.

Yet Congress has yet to pass comprehensive federal data privacy legislation. more