Sept. 3, 2020—The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and represents major auto manufacturers, has put forth an advertisement that uses the fear of sexual assault to galvanize the public against the Right to Repair initiative, which is on the ballot this fall in Massachusetts.
One of these ads features a young woman walking to her car in a deserted parking garage. A voiceover says, "A sexual predator could use the data to stalk their victims." Right as she reaches her car, the woman turns and the frame is stuck on her petrified look. The final message for Massachusetts voters emerges: "Vote NO on 1." A recent article in Vice called it a "highly misleading and fearmongering ad campaign."
The organization running the ads is called "Coalitions for Safe and Secure Data." The group is fully funded by other trade organizations that represent automakers. The Massachusetts Right to Repair bill seeks to give independent repair operations the same access to telematics-based repair information that dealers or OEs would have, via a standardized information platform. Telematics were exempted from a previous version of the law.
The ballot question could have big implications nationally for repaiers. To read the actual ballot issue, check out this previous ADAPT story.
Image: Coalition for Safe and Secure Data/YouTube
