New research reveals serious privacy flaws in the data practices of new internet connected cars in Australia. It’s yet another reason why we need urgent reform of privacy laws.
Modern cars are increasingly equipped with internet-enabled features. Your “connected car” might automatically detect an accident and call emergency services, or send a notification if a child is left in the back seat.
But connected cars are also sophisticated surveillance devices. The data they collect can create a highly revealing picture of each driver. If this data is misused, it can result in privacy and security threats.
A report published today analysed the privacy terms from 15 of the most popular new car brands that sell connected cars in Australia.
This analysis uncovered concerning practices. There are enormous obstacles for consumers who want to find and understand the privacy terms. Some brands also make inaccurate claims that certain information is not “personal information”, implying the Privacy Act doesn’t apply to that data.
Some companies are also repurposing personal information for “marketing” or “research”, and sharing data with third parties.
HW backdoors are probably not something that brokers like these leverage so its a different topic. They just like making easy money from ad tracking systems, they dont wanna work hard and fuck around with zero days.
If you have physical security worries (government trying to kill you) then you either need graphene on a pixel and hope there are no RCE HW backdoors or something else entirely or no phone.
But the “tracking by default” in normal phones, with data being easily available is an issue that affects almost everyone not just high risk individuals.