Drive one of these car brands? This is how much of your data they're tracking

[Sprintey]

Choice magazine has gone through the fine print and discovered who tracks what about you when you are driving or interfacing with the car, with 10 popular brands:

https://www.choice.com.au/consumers-...king-your-data

ABC's got a write up of it, so it made mainstream news today:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/...ties/104440742

Have to read more after work... did find this quote which may offer solutions for drivers who don't want this to happen:

"The free online resource Privacy4Cars amassed step-by-step delete instructions for tens of thousands of vehicles, whose settings often differ by model, make, year and optional extras."

As for the practice, total reknaw behaviour.

[Itsme]

No such thing as privacy in this world, big corporations know more about you, than what you know about yourself.
Shameless tactics being used against you.

Well at least I'm off the hook owning a new Suburu.

[prktkljokr]

We are already at the point where everything we do will be logged, there will be nothing that they will not know about us, just have to think about it and you can see who is exactly linked to the information you freely let out each day, like talk about a specific item near your phone and it shows up on your next browse, you make a transaction at Coles using your card and fly buys, they know your spending habits and those items will be marketed to you, the amount of corporations that are connected to the loyalty cards alone are already harvesting your data, there is no getting away from it now, its here, having the car doing it now is just the next evolution.

I know this sounds like conspiracy theory stuff, but its already here and it is real, its detailed in our everyday life from what programs we watch on tv, what websites we frequent, what petrol station we use, what route we take to work (GPS) what we buy food wise, what we spend on alcohol, the list is endless already, its only the ones that have been burying their heads in the sand that will be the ones that are surprised.

[Franco Cozzo]

We already got drum brakes on the most popular selling vehicles in Australia, so we love regression, we can start using cash again to pay for things and drive dumb vehicles around everywhere, bring back the three knobs for HVAC controls, an AC button, a slider for recirculated air and an ECU with 60 wires

[roKWiz]

No comment.

[smoo]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

We already got drum brakes on the most popular selling vehicles in Australia, so we love regression, we can start using cash again to pay for things and drive dumb vehicles around everywhere, bring back the three knobs for HVAC controls, an AC button, a slider for recirculated air and an ECU with 60 wires

Sounds like you want a 70 Series.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by smoo

Sounds like you want a 70 Series.

Nah, missing the flannelette shirt, akubra, kelpie, Kenworth mudflaps and the 17 year old missus

[smoo]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

Nah, missing the flannelette shirt, akubra, kelpie, Kenworth mudflaps and the 17 year old missus

All the gear for driving flat foot around town making a statement.

[jpd80]

It doesn’t help the push for privacy when so many people openly declare so much on social media.
We already know that most members are tracked on the bigger sites and that data sold to companies
that on sell to marketing people to pitch to their clients.

[Sprintey]

The main question for me is if it is right to do this, after the people pay to purchase the car.

Phones do this, people accept it, but the question remains.

[Citroënbender]

If I live next door to naturists, is it my “right” to photograph them, pixelate the faces (de-identified data) and sell their images? Whether people have a legally enshrined “right to privacy” or not, I argue it’s an area where moral decency ought to be part of collective thought prior to actions.

Joseph Heller lamented; cf: Yossarian, Aarfy and the maid.

[Syndrome]

Where is the sensor for the GPS in my FG X? I'd like to have a mechanical switch for it and also the microphone.

[prktkljokr]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

Where is the sensor for the GPS in my FG X? I'd like to have a mechanical switch for it and also the microphone.

No use if you carry a mobile phone, as you ping off the towers you pass and its listening to you anyway

[Syndrome]

Originally Posted by prktkljokr

No use if you carry a mobile phone, as you ping off the towers you pass and its listening to you anyway

No poo Sherlock!

[Jastel]

On top of the speedo is something that if you unplug stops the satnav...or take out the SD card may work as well.

Dont know why this is news...Uber anyone? Get off your phone and you wont be tracked...as much. LOL. I wonder if they investigated Govco and what they do with our images from their speedcameras, phone cameras, traffic cameras....etc

I was only saying the other day I dont want a car any "smarter" than my FGX, has satnav, cruise and bluetooth and thats enough tech for me.

I WILL DRIVE MY CAR, NOT A COMPUTER.


Yes I know it is all datalogged etc but you need a court order to access that, there is no sim card in the car.

[Sprintey]

Here's the 2023 Mozilla investigation:

https://foundation.mozilla.org/nl/pr...d-for-privacy/

"All 25 car brands we researched earned our *Privacy Not Included warning label -- making cars the official worst category of products for privacy that we have ever reviewed."

[prktkljokr]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

No poo Sherlock!

un-necessary, but OK

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Sprintey

Here's the 2023 Mozilla investigation:

https://foundation.mozilla.org/nl/pr...d-for-privacy/

"All 25 car brands we researched earned our *Privacy Not Included warning label -- making cars the official worst category of products for privacy that we have ever reviewed."

Given how potato the auto manufacturers are with security on their embedded systems, its laughable these clowns have access to other personal information of ours too,

Watch what happens once some Chinese or Russian cyber crime group realises how much of a clown show they are and steals everyones information. Its probably stored on an internet connected system with password access thats 'password123' or something.

The auto manufacturers will just throw their hands up in the air and nothing will come of it, just like Optus, Medibank and other laughable examples we have recently of our information being stored incorrectly, stolen and sold to the highest bidder.

Nissan earned its second-to-last spot for collecting some of the creepiest categories of data we have ever seen. It’s worth reading the review in full, but you should know it includes your “sexual activity.” Not to be out done, Kia also mentions they can collect information about your “sex life” in their privacy policy. Oh, and six car companies say they can collect your “genetic information” or “genetic characteristics.” Yes, reading car privacy policies is a scary endeavor.

Jokes on them, don't think someone who owns a Nissan Juke has one of those just quietly,

Kia on the other hand, think they should give out nationally accredited training on prophylactic use with every Carnival purchase.

[EBSXR6]

In the land of the free GM pulled the pin on data sharing after bad publicity.
The non identical South Korean twins have been mentioned that they maybe the subject of a class action. Supposedly they are sharing data with Insurance companies and premiums are getting significantly raised.

[XWGT]

Ever wondered why your insurance premiums can vary so wildly?
(Even though all Australian insurers are owned by two Halo brands anyway)

[whynot]

Follow up article in Go Auto

https://www.goauto.com.au/news/gener...-15/94991.html

...

According to auto industry sources, the issue is under discussion at manufacturer, dealer (and presumably government) levels as to what to do before potentially going down the legislative path.
...
Several car manufacturers and importer representatives contacted by GoAuto – and wishing to remain nameless – said they did not engage in on-selling driver data and did not collect biometric information, claiming they used the data mostly for market research and advertising purposes.
...
The Apple App Store discloses that MG’s iSmart iPhone app can collect location, contacts, user content, search history, identifiers, usage data and diagnostics information that may be linked to the owner of the device. Apple lists MG’s Chinese parent company SAIC Motor International as the developer of the iSmart app.
...
Of the brands named in the Choice report, the second-biggest collector of owner-linked iPhone app data after MG appears to be Mazda, which the Apple App Store says can link location, contact, identifiers, usage data and diagnostic info to the device owner.
...
A 2023 Sydney University report on data mining in new cars, which generate about 25 gigabytes of data per hour, highlighted the need to “shift our focus towards the automobile industry which has so far escaped the scrutiny faced by technology giants, despite the significant threats to personal privacy it poses”.

“For Australians, the implications are profound and immediate. Given our robust car market, many of us are unwittingly ensnared in this web of data-collection, our personal details, driving patterns, and other private information, splayed open for corporate consumption.”
...
With such a focus on profitability, not a lot of expectation on the self-regulating front exists as it has the potential to reduce or eliminate a lucrative and largely unseen profit centre.

Comment: No surprise that a Chinese company (i.e. MG) is harvesting as much information from your phone as possible. They are certainly into being willing servants of extending the reach of the Chinese Communist Party. And all of this information goes into their data lake.

But I am surprised that Mazda are second on the list. Not sure what is causing that behaviour.

[EBSXR6]

But I am surprised that Mazda are second on the list. Not sure what is causing that behaviour.

$$$$ Getting very well paid for the data.

[Sprintey]

Recently I've been reading a lot of Matt Barrie on tech and AI, and now understand why such mundane data as steering wheel input or complaining about the news, captured in a car, is so valuable.

The large language models work better, the more data they are exposed to. Probably including this post - mods is there anything stopping words typed on AFF being mass-read over the internet by LLMs? No biggie to me if not.

Go have a read of Barrie's Medium article 'AI know what you did last Summer' for more on this.

[Sprintey]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

...

'it includes your “sexual activity.” Not to be out done, Kia also mentions they can collect information about your “sex life” in their privacy policy.'

Wouldn't that be a thread, most unconventional vehicle to do this activity in.