Surprising Ways Your Car Knows A Lot About You

Automotive

Information is gathered about people every second of every day so would you be surprised if you knew that your car also has valuable data stored about your driving habits and safety hidden within its intelligent software. Most of the time this isn’t something that many people would worry about, but when you take your car for its next service, the garage that is plugging into your car’s computer gains access to all this information. If you own an older model, then this isn’t something you need to think about as there aren’t any computers onboard, but for modern vehicles, your car’s sensors are collecting information about the inside and outside of your car every time you turn on the engine.

So what type of information does your car know about you and how is this data used, take a look at some of the main areas of data collection in your vehicle.

Connectivity in your vehicle

Onboard computers and sensors in cars aren’t a new thing, but the advancement in technology has made it easier to control a host of elements in a vehicle compared to older models. On a basic level, the information that is collected can be accessed by your mechanic or garage to ensure systems are working correctly. In more recent times, many vehicles on the road have some type of wireless connection that enables a host of functions including accessing cameras both at the front and rear. In 2017, one car manufacturer also introduced a remote viewing video feed that can be accessed by your smartphone.

Data collected by your car

As vehicles and technology develop, so does the level of information stored about you and your driving habits. Most of the information harvested by your car offers insight into driving habits and the safety of the vehicle, but some well-known data companies are taking this to the next level. Some car manufacturers are now using computer vision systems that assist car producers in gaining information through the cameras installed in your car.

Privacy of data

Much like the article by Secure Data Recovery that discusses how the latest Supreme Court ruling affects how cell phone data is used, there is a growing concern over the privacy of data that is handled by your vehicle and the companies that use the information. Most car companies stress that any data used is scrubbed of personal information to ensure anonymity, but in some cases, there will be an opt-in when you sign a contract of a new vehicle about the level of personal data handled by the car company.

In a world where data breaches are frequent, handing over more information to companies might not be appealing. But in the long-term, newer and smarter models will have this technology integrated into their makeup, and you’ll face the tougher choice to actively hand your data over to car companies and trust that they are using it for the right reasons.

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