Diffusing the connected car’s ticking data-privacy timebomb

An entire industry has been developed around monitoring, logging, analyzing and monetizing it. Yet, the danger is, particularly with increasing cyber-attacks, that this data could end up being leaked and stolen.

With safety being paramount, and with the threat that hackers could take over a connected and autonomous vehicle, there is increasingly a need to ensure that smart car data leakages. Cassandra Moons, data protection officer at TomTom explains why CAVs are a ticking data privacy timebomb by first of all suggesting that connectivity in cars has evolved in ways that reflect how people live their lives today. So, not long ago the idea of always being connected was just a prediction of the future but nowadays being “always-on” is an increasing reality for many people. It’s becoming the norm.

She elaborates: “There are plenty of drivers out there who use apps developed by companies whose primary purpose is to monetize that data for targeted advertising purposes. It’s highly unlikely that the average driver is aware of, or even thinks about, the level of information and data that is being collected and for what purpose. Cars were once spaces where consumers could disconnect from the outer world, now they’ve become hubs for connectivity. The more drivers rely on quick access to data and connectivity, the higher the risk.”

Data-protection minefield

David Trossell, CEO and CTO of Bridgeworks adds that data-protection regulations also create a minefield – not just about how to protect the data but also to determine who owns the data in the first place. As such, today, he says there is no single worldwide authority as to what data is collected, who has access to it and how is this data related to the driver or passenger of a CAV.

How, underpinning data protect is the need to protect data and this can become a complex task for carmakers and for service providers operating in the CAV ecosystem. Trossell explains: “I would suspect that each manufacture would require the data to flow back to their data centers which could be in a different geographical area with differing regulations.

“With vehicle manufactures now placing their products in most markets, this creates a nightmare with each country’s regulations as any data could be traced back to an individual vehicle this can then be referenced to person(s). The EU’s GDPR regulations, for example, restrict the location and storage of personal data, which is required to reside within the EU and in the countries that have regulation on the use of person data.”

To read the complete article, visit TU-Automotive.