Dear Watchdog: I was shocked to learn about the amount of personal information that can be collected directly from the vehicle. – Charlie Sink of Colleyville.
Dear Watchdog: Until recently I had no idea such secret data collection was occurring. If there’s a good reason to continue this data collection, it must be fully transparent. Each customer must actively agree with it, and customers must be able to opt out. – Carl Rusnok of Keller.
Dear Watchdog: Tracking devices will be required or you will be forced to pay more if you don’t submit. Everybody in the personal data chain makes money off you. Except you! – Terry Anderson of Garland.
These readers wrote to me after I reported how some insurance companies use driver scores to help them determine what kind of rates each customer will pay.
For my previous report on this I learned that even if you don’t sign up for one of these data collection programs, you can still be watched.
Watched by whom? Various apps in your smart phone monitor your good and bad driving habits
Now Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office has raised more revelations of this massive data collection. After an investigation, the AG’s office discovered that vehicles with built-in internet connectivity to cell towers send reams of data back to the carmaker.
In addition to hard braking, acceleration and speed, other data collected, I learned, includes whether you wear a seatbelt and how much gas you have in your tank.
General Motors sued by Texas
The AG recently filed a lawsuit against General Motors. The suit says that for years, GM sold data collection packages called OnStar to unwitting car buyers, who were promised greater safety and security.
Car buyers had to look over and sign up to 50 pages detailing GM’s complex privacy rules.
Salespersons, working on commission, didn’t say, “This is like a surveillance vehicle. We’ll know when you don’t wear your seat belt or if you drive too much late at night. Sign here.”
In some cases, without disclosure, GM employees had buyers complete the sign-ups before they could take possession of their car.
GM sold the driving scores of up to 16 million Texans to outside parties, the lawsuit states. GM sold the data to third-party vendors, some of whom worked for car insurance companies, the lawsuit states.
That info contributed to your driving score which could, without disclosure, increase or decrease your auto insurance premiums. It could also lead to dropped coverage or coverage denials.
When GM vehicle owners tried to opt out after a 60-day free trial, GM made it sound like other functions of the vehicle would no longer work. That wasn’t necessarily true.
GM spokesperson Malorie Lucich, in response to my inquiry, shared a statement: “We’ve been in discussions with the attorney general’s office and are reviewing the complaint. We share the desire to protect consumers’ privacy.”
Auto makers policies
OnStar Smart Driver is no more. GM announced in a blog post, “Customer trust is a priority for us, which is why we have … decided to discontinue Smart Driver across all GM vehicles and unenroll all customers.”
GM also terminated its relationship with data brokers, it says.
Honda Vice President Jennifer Thomas said Honda collects data that is used “in a safe and responsible manner.”
Ford spokesperson Amy Mast shared a statement: “Ford does not sell any connected vehicle data to brokers, period.”
The company collects data from vehicles, but it’s for internal use only.
“Ford is a trusted steward of personal information,” she said.
Hyundai spokesperson Ira Gabriel said the company is committed to customer privacy. He said, “Hyundai is no longer sharing driver data with insurers.”
Watchdog tips: If you own a car made by a company that sells data, you can ask the car maker to stop the collection.
When buying a vehicle, check the privacy statement and see how you can opt out.
Ask the dealer to show you how to wipe your data clean.
If you sell a car, don’t forget to delete all data.
Vehicles built in 2015 and after are likely to have this kind of connectivity software.
