(OPINION) Be careful what you say while you are driving your vehicle because you are being watched. Today, we live in a giant surveillance prison in which virtually everything that we do is being monitored, tracked, recorded, and analyzed.
In this day and age, you should just assume that nothing that you do is ever private. When I was much younger, if I really wanted to have a private conversation with someone I thought that taking a long drive with that person was a great way to do that.
But those days are long gone. Unless you have a vehicle that was manufactured quite some time ago, it is spying on you. In fact, a report that has been released by the Mozilla Foundation actually states that vehicles are “the official worst category of products for privacy” that Mozilla has ever reviewed…
If you’re wondering which gadgets have the worst user privacy practices, it turns out the answer may be parked outside. According to a report published by the Mozilla Foundation on Wednesday, cars are “the official worst category of products for privacy” that it’s ever reviewed.
The global nonprofit found that 92 percent of the reviewed automakers provide drivers with little (if any) control over their personal data, with 84 percent sharing user data with outside parties.
I was stunned when I read that. Could that possibly be true? According to Mozilla, automakers are gathering all sorts of data about all of us…
Carmakers have a long list of personal information they say they may track, including employment and purchasing history, education, internet browsing history, location data, music and podcast listening habits, immigration status, religious and philosophical beliefs and health information.
I’m sorry, but there is no way that I want a giant corporation tracking my religious beliefs or my health information. And I am sure that you feel the same.
But if you plan to purchase a new vehicle, you literally have no choice. Mozilla examined 25 different vehicle brands, and every single one of them “failed to meet the nonprofit organization’s minimum privacy standards”….
All 25 of the car brands that were researched for the report — including Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen, BMW, and Tesla — failed to meet the nonprofit organization’s minimum privacy standards and were found to collect more personal data from customers than necessary.
The kind of information collected varies from personal information like medical data to how drivers are using the vehicle itself — such as how fast they drive, where they drive, and even the music they listen to. Both Nissan and Kia are noted to allow the collection of information regarding a user’s sex life.
By contrast, Mozilla claims that 37 percent of mental health apps (which also have a poor reputation for data privacy) had better practices for collecting and using personal data. (READ MORE)
