The ever growing number of ‘smart’ web-enabled devices is associated with a connection between these devices, creating the internet if thing (IoT). Intelligence services might use the IoT for monitoring, surveillance, location tracking etc., mostly because of the leakiness of data in the private sector. They usually store data somewhere, on some server. This data is easily obtained, because of the insecurity of the these servers. There is some level of hardware needed, such as in cars, in order to perform adequate surveillance. Companies take hard lines to make sure their user data does not end up in the hand of the government, but manufacturers of hardware do not prioritize user privacy and consumer often make themselves very vulnerable (Thielman, 2016).
Cars nowadays record almost everything. They observe driving behavior and record every journey. In combination with navigation systems and smartphone apps, a lot of data is generated. These aspects create an environment in which privacy of people can be compromised. Also, insurance companies created so-called black boxes, which measures acceleration and should eventually help driving safer. This will reduce the number of damages, so the insurance premiums could also be reduced. However, the data can also reveal where someone has been and how many passengers were in the car, basically turning your own car in some sort of a ‘spy’. Of course, the industry claims that privacy has the highest priority, and that manufacturers need to show that the generated data is impersonalized (Wall, 2014). Overall, it will be necessary to check whether the data and connectivity create benefits that outweigh the privacy problems. The privacy of people should be guaranteed by regulations, because the data would make driving more safe and therefore very attractive to use in the process. In conclusion, cars may not be totally trustworthy at the moment, but this should be reversed by regulations in order to benefit from the generated data.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/10/internet-of-things-surveillance-smart-tv-cars-toys
Hi Kevin, thanks for your interesting and somewhat alarming article on the privacy threats of our cars.
I thought you might find it interesting to know that the European Union has recently passed regulations with the aim of protecting the privacy of drivers. These new rules fall under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and include all personal identifiers, including GPS information. These regulations allow individual users to gain more control over their privacy and the types of data that companies have access to. Moreover, it poses standards on the way companies store this sensitive information to reduce the threat of data-leaks and hacking. If you’re interested, you can find more information on http://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/fleet-industry-news/2016/05/03/new-eu-data-regulation-aims-to-protect-driver-privacy.
Hi Kevin,
Thank you for this interesting post! It is true that cars are able to record a lot of data nowadays. Cars are getting much smarter these days and use all this data to make driving a car easier. And in the near future autonomous driving will be a common way of transportation. I actually do not agree that cars will become a sort of ‘spy’. Cars need all this information to make intelligent transportation systems possible. And this will make the way of transportation much more safe than it is now (Motton, 2016). However, I agree there are several privacy concerns. All this data necessary to make this technology possible must be handled with care. And to protect us from privacy issues, the government is already developing new rules and regulations to make this technology feasible. So to conclude, I think it is a great innovation that cars are able to record this amount of data, but yes we have to make sure privacy regulations will protect us.
Motton (2016). Retrieved from: http://www.whatcar.com/news/are-autonomous-cars-safe/.