Is your car sharing your data?

[Darryl]

Quote

An investigation by consumer advocacy group Choice found most of Australia's popular car brands collect and share "driver data", ranging from braking patterns to video footage.

Kia and Hyundai collect voice recognition data from inside their cars and sell it to an artificial intelligence software training company.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2024-10-09/car-brands-are-tracking-and-sharing-your-data-with-third-parties/104440742

[Jenflea]

No, because I drive a Subaru. 

[Darryl]

Fortunately my car is too old and shitty for this to be a concern for me.

[Mooguru]

No because our cars are old (and Mitsubishi).

I swear more and more stuff comes out that makes me go I don't want a new car for as long as I can possibly avoid it. 

And yet again people will be perfectly ok with giant companies doing this with no information what they are doing with the data they collect because they like the features of offers. But if you told them the government was doing the same thing they'd be horrified.  

[Kimasa]

My car isn't listed. 

But if it does I'm not sure what it's going to do with hours upon hours of my off key singing. I can't imagine that would be great for AI training.

Edited Tuesday at 11:55 PM by Kimasa

[Ernegirl]

9 minutes ago, Darryl said:

Fortunately my car is too old and shitty for this to be a concern for me.

Yes, ours is barely sharing our century.

[Paddlepop]

Is there a list somewhere? Pretty sure our car is a “dumb” car. 2014. 

[Kiwi Bicycle]

Well someone rang the sim card in their BYD and found the car can listen in to your conversations without you being notified.

https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/security/popular-electric-vehicle-manufacturer-byd-responds-to-claims-atto-3-has-a-sim-card-that-can-call-you-without-knowing/news-story/56dcb8ef0a0087b9d96be64fd89b36a6

[pelagic]

Yes. Every moment we live will be monitored. The future, where you will never be able to make a mistake, choose your own adventure or say anything that offends anybody at all. 

[Yogaalaates]

Yes and now I’m mad! The car is where I have my best conversations…with myself. 

[Chocolate Addict]

meh what doesn't track our conversations or data these days? I would be more surprised if cars with computer chips weren't tracking us.

I have plenty of other things to be outraged about than big brother watching/listening/collecting data.

[Tinsel]

I don't drive, but as DH's car is a 2007 Suzuki, he's safe - the car wouldn't know what data was, let alone collect it and sell it on.

[magic_marker]

I'm so glad l can teach how to swear in English while l'm driving!

[Okelydokely]

Ha. Mine does but not biometrics. Eh I’m ok with it; it has a neat sos thing and can notify emergency services if I have a decent stack. Also tracks it if stolen. I’m sure it’s not foolproof but feels safe. 
 

All my other data is out there, what’s a bit more? 

[STBG 2]

My car I just got rid of was a dumb car but I am not sure what my new car ( on the list ) would hear. I don't tend to talk to myself. Maybe they hear my Spotify list and know what a cool person I am.

I do know it has a tracking device as I learned this by watching Hunted and seeing my type of car tracked but my phone already tracks anyway so I have given up caring.

We all complain but how many are willing to give up the technology?

[Quisby]

12 minutes ago, STBG 2 said:

My car I just got rid of was a dumb car but I am not sure what my new car (on the list) would hear. I don't tend to talk to myself. Maybe they hear my Spotify list and know what a cool person I am.

I do know it has a tracking device as I learned this by watching Hunted and seeing my type of car tracked but my phone already tracks anyway so I have given up caring.

We all complain but how many are willing to give up the technology?

It's not the listening that's the issue, it's everything contained on your phone from all your media files through to your contact lists. 

https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2023/10/how-cars-get-away-with-collecting-and-sharing-your-data

But you're absolutely right - not many will be willing to forfeit the tech.

Edited Wednesday at 02:03 AM by Quisby

[Quisby]

A very quick example with regards to camera data would be, you've told your insurance company that your vehicle is garaged each night. But the data from the camera shows the insurance company that actually, you've parked outside the garage each night so when you attempt to make a claim after your car's been broken into, they will reject it because of false information given to them. I'm sure there are many other example such as this that will come to light.

Edited Wednesday at 02:07 AM by Quisby

[123tree]

1 hour ago, Yogaalaates said:

Yes and now I’m mad! The car is where I have my best conversations…with myself. 

There was a recent murder trial where the police had bugged the car of the suspect and later defendant.  He was prone to talking out loud to himself about his problems.  Including being concerned that the police would discover the bodies.  I was a bit surprised, it was like a soliloquy in a dramatic soap . I am not making light of the terrible crime but I didn’t know people in real life did that.  

[Darryl]

I think that the general concern is that cars are becoming "data collectors on wheels" creating risks for privacy and data security.  Almost everything seems to be collecting data these days.

[Blondie]

1 hour ago, Chocolate Addict said:

meh what doesn't track our conversations or data these days? I would be more surprised if cars with computer chips weren't tracking us.

I have plenty of other things to be outraged about than big brother watching/listening/collecting data.

I'm afraid I don't share your opinion.  I am plenty outraged. This on the back of the fact that I learned that my smallish organisation tracks every keystrock.  I know this is not a new thing but I am shocked that we have moved to a well-known program so that they can do this - and they do.  I debrief (not in a favourable way) with a couple of colleagues as we car-pool.  I work for an international NFP and mentioning the name of the oganisation could be of interest.

[Yogaalaates]

3 minutes ago, 123tree said:

I am not making light of the terrible crime but I didn’t know people in real life did that.  

I’m the best listener I know. 

[Gumbette]

Tesla, so yep, nothing is private apparently.

In saying that, Choice found it's super easy to hack my vacuum cleaner and it has a camera that can watch everything I do. That freaks me out even more.

[123tree]

1 hour ago, Chocolate Addict said:

meh what doesn't track our conversations or data these days? I would be more surprised if cars with computer chips weren't tracking us.

I have plenty of other things to be outraged about than big brother watching/listening/collecting data.

I am not concerned about myself personally, however I am concerned about other people and the direction this is going.  I don’t like the way this could leave people if different ethnicities, religions or political affiliation vulnerable to privacy invasion and possible vulnerability.  It is like the period tracking apps in the USA.  I could say I don’t care because I can’t have kids anymore so won’t need an abortion in another country but if we don’t object to this in a collaborative way then those who have reason to be afraid don’t have any power.  
 

The other thing that jumps out to me is that I am just about to start a new job where client confidentiality is very important and it makes me concerned about that group of people.  I don’t drive a car on that list and will be using my personal car for work though.  Should companies advise staff not to make phone calls discussing clients in your car in the same way that I would not do so in a cafe?   

[Decisions Decisions]

I hate how this has developed and while not having a paranoid personality it pushes me towards being paranoid about voicing opinions because who knows who is listening (meanwhile I'm typing my feelings here! )

Not car related but I do not have Siri activated on my phone and was talking about engineering careers with my son the other day with my phone on the table in front of me.  The day after when checking facebook I had 3 different ads for graduate engineering positions at 3 different firms.  

How is this possible?  Do the apps themselves listen?

[Jolly_F]

36 minutes ago, 123tree said:

There was a recent murder trial where the police had bugged the car of the suspect and later defendant.  He was prone to talking out loud to himself about his problems.  Including being concerned that the police would discover the bodies.  I was a bit surprised, it was like a soliloquy in a dramatic soap . I am not making light of the terrible crime but I didn’t know people in real life did that.  

Do people really not talk to themselves? I am more surprised at that…

I wonder if me practicing for my Grammy award is helpful