While traveling by car, its satellite navigation system tracks locations and guides you to your destination, built-in cameras constantly monitor your face and eyes, sensors record when you brake suddenly, and even while waiting at a traffic light, the car notices when someone unbuckles their seat belt to, say, grab something from the back seat.
Modern cars are "computers on wheels" that are increasingly connected, enabling innovative new features that make driving safer and more convenient. But these systems also collect reams of data about driver habits and other personal information, raising privacy concerns.
It's difficult to determine exactly how much data a modern car collects, according to a study by the Mozilla Foundation, which analyzed the privacy practices of 25 automakers in 2023. It declared that cars are the worst product category in terms of privacy that the group has ever analyzed.
The data includes all normal car handling such as turning the steering wheel or unlocking the doors, but also data from connected vehicle services such as satellite radio, GPS navigation systems, connected devices, telematics systems, sensor or camera data.
Vehicle telematics systems began to become commonplace about ten years ago, and the practice of collecting data on cars began to develop about five years ago.
The problem isn't just with what data is being collected, but also with who it's being shared with, including insurance companies, marketing companies and shady data brokers. The problem surfaced this year when General Motors was banned from disclosing driver data to consumer agencies for five years.
The US Federal Trade Commission accused General Motors of failing to obtain consent before sharing the data, which included every instance where a driver was speeding or driving late at night. The data was eventually provided to insurance companies, who used it to set their rates.
The first thing drivers need to do is know what data their car is collecting, said Andrea Amico, founder of Privacy4Cars, an automotive privacy company.
Ideally, drivers would read the owner's manuals and documentation that came with their cars and ask the dealer about what is collected.
But it's not always practical to do so, and manufacturers don't make it easy to find out, while store staff aren't the best informed, Amiko said.
Privacy4Cars offers a free car privacy tagging service at vehicleprivacyreport.com which can summarize what your car can track.
Owners can enter their car's vehicle identification number (VIN), which then reveals the car manufacturer's data privacy practices, such as whether the car collects location data and whether it is provided to insurers, data brokers or the police.
Data collection and tracking begins as soon as a new car is picked up, and drivers unknowingly consent when faced with warning menus on dashboard touchscreens.
Experts say that part of the collected data is built into the system, and that consent to this can be revoked in one of the menus.
"There are permissions in the settings that you can choose," said Loren Hendry Parsons of Mozilla. "Go through them in detail and look at those settings," she said.
For example, Toyota says on its website that drivers can opt out of what it calls "Master Data Consent" in the Toyota app. Ford says owners can opt out of sharing vehicle data with the company by going through the dashboard settings menu or in the FordPass app.
BMW says privacy settings can be adjusted via the infotainment system, "on a spectrum" between allowing all services, including analytics data, and allowing none.
Drivers in the US can ask car manufacturers to limit what they do with their data.
Under U.S. privacy laws, some automakers allow owners across the United States to make requests to limit the use of their personal information, opt out of sharing it or delete it, Consumer Reports said. Other automakers limit requests in states with privacy laws, the publication said.
The request can be submitted via an online form or the car manufacturer's mobile app.
Privacy4Cars is also a free online service that simplifies the process. It can either direct car owners to their car manufacturer's claims portal or file a claim on behalf of the owner in the US, Canada, the European Union, the UK and Australia.
Experts warn that there is usually a trade-off if you choose to turn off data collection: most people, for example, have switched to satellite navigation systems instead of paper maps because "the convenience of being able to easily get from point A to point B is worth it," said Hendri Parsons.
Turning off location tracking could also stop features like roadside assistance or smartphone apps like remote door locking, Consumer Reports says.
BMW advises that if an owner chooses not to share data at all, "their vehicle will behave like a smartphone in flight mode and will not transmit any data to BMW."
When it comes time to sell a car, it's no longer as simple as handing over the keys and signing a contract.
Experts say that you should always perform a factory reset to erase all data, which includes removing all connections to the smartphone.
In addition, the manufacturer must be notified of the change of ownership.
Amiko said this is important because if a vehicle is replaced, you don't want insurers to still associate it with the previous owner's profile if the seller allows customers to take it for test drives.
"Then your record could be affected by someone else's driving - a complete stranger with whom you have no connection," he warned.
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