The decision followed a New York Times report this month that G.M. had, for years, been sharing data about drivers’ mileage, braking, acceleration and speed with the insurance industry. The drivers were enrolled — some unknowingly, they said — in OnStar Smart Driver, a feature in G.M.’s internet-connected cars that collected data about how the car had been driven and promised feedback and digital badges for good driving.
If the article link contains a paywall, you can consider reading this alternative article instead: ‘GM Stops Sharing Driver Data With Brokers Amid Backlash’ on Ars Technica.
How did this happen in the first place, and why aren’t heads rolling? This was a shockingly bad decision that caused massive damage to their brand for a comparatively small amount of money. Even if they roll this back, I just don’t trust them anymore.
Nearly all auto companies were found to collect data, not just GM. They are probably all selling that data.
Same question posed to them.
But notably the EU companies (e.g. Audi, Mercedes, BMW), while they have poor privacy scores from Mozilla, were not actively selling your data to brokers to hike your insurance rates. So there’s that.
They are. Mozilla provided a comprehensive report on several major car manufacturing corporations selling data to all kinds of brokers.
Doubt any heads will roll. I bet this feature was approved by the C-suite and board of directors. Look, we can create two revenue streams with one simple offer—get car buyers to subscribe to On Star so we can collect data, and then sell the data. All legal because nobody reads the fine print in the contract.
Why would heads roll? Those heads are being rewarded by the Boards of Directors.
Congress has no incentive to legislate this, voters don’t prioritize privacy, financial interests that benefit from the status quo include the largest companies in the USA.
. . . Because the auto industry is a true bastion of male privilege and they’re all crazy rich?
They’re above the law. And that clown show in DC isn’t going to do shit so long as republiQans have the votes to stop it.