It’s worth saying again: new cars, at every price point, create and collect so much data about their owners, drivers, passengers, and the world around them. About where you go, what you do inside, and who you are. They have so much information about you that they can (and do) use it to invent even more, through “inferences.” So that’s the first privacy red flag: the quantity of personal data car companies collect. Then, a lot of the car companies share and sell that information — to service providers, data brokers, the government, and other businesses we know little or nothing about. The sharing, selling, and the overall lack of clarity about those things are flags two, three, and four. But there’s more: the intimacy of the data (that’s five).

There is some personal information that corporations just should not be allowed to collect about you, especially when there is no imaginable good reason for them to do it. In this category: genetic information. GM’s Cadillac, GMC, Buick, and Chevrolet say in their California Privacy Statement that they can collect (among so many other things) your “Genetic, physiological, behavioral, and biological characteristics.” KIA and Nissan also say they can collect “genetic information.” We have every question about this, but mostly “how”?

It gets worse. Nissan says they can collect information about your “sexual activity” and “intelligence” (which they apparently infer from your personal data) and can share that information with “marketing and promotional partners” or for their own “direct marketing purposes.” What on earth kind of campaign are you planning, Nissan? On second thought, don’t answer that. Just please cut it out. Especially after your data breach earlier this year, it’s only fair your super-sensitive data privileges are canceled.

Caltrider, J., Rykov, M., & MacDonald, Z. (2023, September 6). After Researching Cars and Privacy, Here’s What Keeps Us up at Night. Mozilla Foundation. https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/articles/after-researching-cars-and-privacy-heres-what-keeps-us-up-at-night/