Technical tests carried out by the German Automobile Association (ADAC) on behalf of FIA Region I on two vehicles, a conventionally-fuelled vehicle and an electric vehicle, found that, in addition to the creation of driver profiles, vehicle location, trip length, personal information synced from mobile phones are tracked and can be transmitted back to the manufacturer.
A public survey of 12,000 people in 12 European countries, looking at the public’s familiarity with connected vehicles shows a high level of interest for connectivity, received approximately 1,000 replies from each country. However, 90 per cent of respondents also issued a clear message that vehicle data belongs to the owner or driver of the vehicle.
Citizens are most concerned about the disclosure of private information (88 per cent), commercial use of personal data (86 per cent), vehicle hacking and vehicle tracking. 95 per cent of people surveyed believed that there was a need for specific legislation to protect their rights to their vehicle and driver data.
Thierry Willemarck, FIA Region I president said: “There is a clear disconnect in what is being tracked and what citizens are willing to accept when it comes to car data. Not only strong data protection, but informed consent and free choice of service providers need to be addressed. Connected cars are already on the market, tracking and able to communicate private information about consumers. Now is the time for policymakers to take a strong stand and defend consumers.”
MEP Evelyne Gebhardt, said “Consumers have a right to know what data they are sharing when they drive their car. Currently, only vehicle manufacturers have access to this data. Europeans deserve to control their data and to which service provider they choose to share it with. They also must have the possibility to shut off communication.”
Based on the data in these two studies, FIA Region I and its members across Europe are launching the My Car My Data <%$Linker:
