As reported by AP News: Nineteen
automakers accounting for most of the passenger cars and trucks sold in
the U.S. have signed onto a set of principles they say will protect
motorists' privacy in an era when computerized cars pass along more
information about their drivers than many motorists realize.
The principles were delivered in a letter Wednesday to the Federal Trade Commission, which has the authority to force corporations to live up to their promises to consumers. Industry officials say they want to assure their customers that the information that their cars stream back to automakers or that is downloaded from the vehicle's computers won't be handed over to authorities without a court order, sold to insurance companies or used to bombard them with ads for pizza parlors, gas stations or other businesses they drive past, without their permission.
The principles were delivered in a letter Wednesday to the Federal Trade Commission, which has the authority to force corporations to live up to their promises to consumers. Industry officials say they want to assure their customers that the information that their cars stream back to automakers or that is downloaded from the vehicle's computers won't be handed over to authorities without a court order, sold to insurance companies or used to bombard them with ads for pizza parlors, gas stations or other businesses they drive past, without their permission.
The
principles also commit automakers to "implement reasonable measures" to
protect personal information from unauthorized access.
Many
recent-model cars and light trucks have GPS and mobile communications
technology integrated into the vehicle's computers and navigation
systems. Information on where drivers have been and where they're going
is continually sent to manufacturers when the systems are in use.
Consumers benefit from alerts sent by automakers about traffic
conditions and concierge services that are able to unlock car doors and
route drivers around the path of a storm.
The
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is also working with
automakers on regulations that will clear the way for vehicle-to-vehicle
communications. The technology uses a radio signal to continually
transmit a vehicle's position, heading, speed and other information.
Similarly equipped cars and trucks would receive the same information,
and their computers would alert drivers to an impending collision.
"As
modern cars not only share the road but will in the not too distant
future communicate with one another, vigilance over the privacy of our
customers and the security of vehicle systems is an imperative," said
John Bozzella, president of Global Automakers, an industry trade
association.
The
automakers' principles leave open the possibility of deals with
advertisers who want to target motorists based on their location and
other personal data, but only if customers agree ahead of time that they
want to receive such information, industry officials said in a briefing
with reporters.
"Google
may want to become an automaker, but we don't want to become Google,"
said Mitch Bainwol, president of the Alliance of Automobile
Manufacturers.
The
possibility of ads popping up on the computer screens in cars while
drivers are behind the wheel worries some safety advocates.
"There
is going to be a huge amount of metadata that companies would like to
mine to send advertisements to you in your vehicle," said Henry Jasny of
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. "We don't want pop-up ads to
become a distraction."
Industry
officials say they oppose federal legislation to require privacy
protections, saying that would be too "prescriptive." But Marc
Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information
Center, said legislation is needed to ensure automakers don't back off
the principles when they become inconvenient.
"You
just don't want your car spying on you," he said. "That's the practical
consequence of a lot of the new technologies that are being built into
cars."
The
automakers signing on to the principles are Aston Martin, BMW,
Chrysler, Ferrari, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Maserati,
Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Porsche, Subaru, Toyota,
Volkswagen and Volvo.
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