GPS and smartphone car technology raises questions about drivers' privacy

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/jan/13/gps-smartphone-car-technology-driver-privacy-detroit

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The increasing connectivity of cars, with GPS systems and other computers becoming more common, raises questions about drivers' privacy, the US transportation secretary warned on Monday.

Speaking at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Anthony Foxx said a balance had to be struck between the convenience and safety of drivers with their expectations of privacy.

A senior executive at the Ford motor company was forced to hastily withdraw claims he made last week about the ability of the carmaker to track its drivers using new technology. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week Ford's Jim Farley, global vice-president of marketing and sales, initially claimed the GPS units installed in the company's cars meant the company knew when drivers were speeding and where they weren't.

"We know everyone who breaks the law, we know when you're doing it. We have GPS in your car, so we know what you're doing. By the way, we don't supply that data to anyone," he told attendees.

After his comments caused a furore Farley said he had “left the wrong impression”. He said in a follow-up statement: “We do not track our customers in their cars without their approval or their consent. The statement I made in my eyes was hypothetical and I want to clear this up."

On Monday, Foxx told reporters in Detroit that new technologies being developed for cars raised potentially thorny issues. He said: "The technology that's emerging raises questions, and we're going to be responsive to those questions. But each technology is different, and each application of it is different, and we want to make sure that we're striking the right balance between helping folks be safe but also making sure that their expectations of privacy are also weighed carefully."

Sergio Marchionne, the chief executive officer of Chrysler and Fiat, said there were concerns about the data being collected at his company but that it was carefully protected.

“The more information I get about a particular vehicle and the way in which it performs the better quality car I can manufacture,” he said. “There is a large caveat to this which is the potential misuse of this information. We have been very, very wary,” he said. Marchionne said any data was collected in such a way that no individuals information could be compromised “in any shape or form”.

Foxx’s comments came after the US government accountability office (GAO) found inconsistencies in the way automakers handle data from car owners, raising fears of privacy breaches. The study looked at information collected by Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Nissan and Toyota as well as navigation device-makers Garmin and TomTom and map and navigation app developers Google and Telenav.

"Without clear disclosures about the purposes, consumers may not be able to effectively judge whether the uses of their location data might violate their privacy," the report noted. It also criticised the fact that drivers were often not able to delete their data and expressed concern that the data could be used in ways “consumers did not intend or may be vulnerable to unauthorized access”.

After the GAO report was released Minnesota’s senator Al Franken called to on Congress to pass a location-privacy bill. "Companies providing in-car location services are taking their customers' privacy seriously – but this report shows that Minnesotans and people across the country need much more information about how the data are being collected, what they're being used for, and how they're being shared with third parties," Franken said in a statement.

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