Carmakers unite around privacy protections...
CARMAKERS UNITE AROUND PRIVACY PROTECTIONS
By JOAN LOWY , Associated Press
Nov. 13, 2014 12:01 AM ET
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nineteen automakers accounting for most
of the passenger cars and trucks sold in the U.S. have signed onto a set of
principles they say will protect motorists' privacy in an era when computerized
cars pass along more information about their drivers than many motorists
realize.
The principles were delivered in a letter Wednesday to
the Federal Trade Commission, which has the authority to force corporations to
live up to their promises to consumers.
Industry officials say they want to assure their
customers that the information that their cars stream back to automakers or
that is downloaded from the vehicle's computers won't be handed over to
authorities without a court order, sold to insurance companies or used to
bombard them with ads for pizza parlors, gas stations or other businesses they
drive past, without their permission.
The principles also commit automakers to "implement
reasonable measures" to protect personal information from unauthorized
access.
Many recent-model cars and light trucks have GPS and
mobile communications technology integrated into the vehicle's computers and
navigation systems. Information on where drivers have been and where they're
going is continually sent to manufacturers when the systems are in use.
Consumers benefit from alerts sent by automakers about traffic conditions and
concierge services that are able to unlock car doors and route drivers around
the path of a storm.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is
also working with automakers on regulations that will clear the way for
vehicle-to-vehicle communications. The technology uses a radio signal to
continually transmit a vehicle's position, heading, speed and other
information. Similarly equipped cars and trucks would receive the same information,
and their computers would alert drivers to an impending collision.
"As modern cars not only share the road but will in
the not too distant future communicate with one another, vigilance over the
privacy of our customers and the security of vehicle systems is an
imperative," said John Bozzella, president of Global Automakers, an
industry trade association.
The automakers' principles leave open the possibility of
deals with advertisers who want to target motorists based on their location and
other personal data, but only if customers agree ahead of time that they want
to receive such information, industry officials said in a briefing with
reporters.
"Google may want to become an automaker, but we
don't want to become Google," said Mitch Bainwol, president of the
Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.
The possibility of ads popping up on the computer screens
in cars while drivers are behind the wheel worries some safety advocates.
"There is going to be a huge amount of metadata that
companies would like to mine to send advertisements to you in your
vehicle," said Henry Jasny of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.
"We don't want pop-up ads to become a distraction."
Industry officials say they oppose federal legislation to
require privacy protections, saying that would be too "prescriptive."
But Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information
Center, said legislation is needed to ensure automakers don't back off the
principles when they become inconvenient.
"You just don't want your car spying on you,"
he said. "That's the practical consequence of a lot of the new
technologies that are being built into cars."
The automakers signing on to the principles are Aston
Martin, BMW, Chrysler, Ferrari, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Maserati,
Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Porsche, Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen
and Volvo.
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