The very worst offender is Nissan. The Japanese car manufacturer admits in their privacy policy to collecting a wide range of information, including sexual activity, health diagnosis data, and genetic data — but doesn’t specify how. They say they can share and sell consumers’ “preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes” to data brokers, law enforcement, and other third parties.

What the actual fuck

Subaru states that by being a passenger, you are considered a user — and by being a user, you have consented to their privacy policy. Several car brands also note that it is a driver’s responsibility to tell passengers about the vehicle's privacy policies.

No way that holds up in court. But in what situation would that appear in court unless someone has money to burn?

This is why if you buy a car, you should get a "dumb" car.

I hate the world we’re building.

got to love GDPR

i wonder if snipping off your car's modem completely stops the flow of data. like sure, your car's CPU is still gathering that data but they have no way to retrieve it. unless you visit a dealership or authorized mechanic shop?

Why don't they review any open source cars?

What if:

My car doesn't have a cellular connection? Does it still spy?

I have SatNav, but it doesn't have a hotspot/wifi/cell, does it so collect data somehow? I'm guessing somehow over GPS/sat maybe?

It's even trickier with EVs.

On the one hand you can charge your EV at home and no one knows about it.

On the other, you can't pay for a public charger with cash, there's always a trail. Cars have unique identifiers that are communicated to the charger when connected. Each time you charge in public they know exactly who are you and what car it is.

Ah yes the car I use to put myself into public is not private.

There’s more than enough spying capability on most smartphones. I’m not worried about my car at all.