The world’s most popular car brands are a “data privacy nightmare” because they collect and sell personal information, according to a study by the nonprofit Mozilla Foundation.
The Mozilla Foundation evaluated 25 car brands and said none fully met the organization’s privacy standards, and no other product category scored as poorly, including sex toys or mental health apps.
“Today’s cars are a privacy nightmare at a time when automakers boast that their cars are computers on wheels,” the organization says.
“While we worried that our Internet-connected doorbells and clocks could spy on us, car brands were quietly getting into the data business, turning their vehicles into powerful data storage facilities,” the Mozilla Foundation emphasizes.
The worst indicators were for the US electric car manufacturer “Tesla”, while the Japanese “Nissan” ranks second, which was also highlighted for collecting data of strange categories, including information on sexual activity.
The study found that 84% of car brands admitted to sharing users’ personal data with service providers, data brokers and other companies.
Most of them – 76% – said they sell their customers’ data, and more than half said they share data with the government and law enforcement agencies upon request.
Today’s connected cars don’t just get data from driving, they also track the use of infotainment systems and third-party features like satellite radio or maps.
Additionally, 68% of the car brands surveyed, which included Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota, Volkswagen and BMW, have been exposed to data leaks, hacks or data breaches in the past three years.
2023-09-07 17:45:15
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