Nov. 13, 2014—Automakers released on Wednesday a set of principles regarding the sharing of the personal information available over vehicle telematics systems, and the Auto Care Association (ACA) still believes automakers are falling short.
The report, “Consumer Privacy Protection Principles,” was developed by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the Association of Global Automakers.
In response, the ACA issued the following statement on Thursday:
While the Auto Care Association applauds the car companies for taking this initiative to inform consumers of the sizable amount of personal information that is being transmitted to manufacturers from their customers’ vehicles, the association believes that the manufacturers are still failing to provide car owners any choices regarding the information that is available from their vehicle.
Currently, car owners are at the mercy of the vehicle manufacturers as to where information on their vehicle is sent. This includes vehicle diagnostic, mileage and geolocation information. All of this information is sent directly to the manufacturer, and they decide with which third parties to share that information.
The Auto Care Association strongly urges the vehicle manufacturers to build into their vehicles a secure gateway which will allow motorists to have information that is transmitted by their vehicle and sent to the third party of their choice, not the car companies’ choice. Such action will permit car owners to have full control of the information available from their embedded vehicle telematics systems.
