Privacy Risks In Connected Cars – Much Ado About Nothing?

On March 25, 2015, the BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA) released a report highlighting privacy challenges in something that rivals smartphones in ubiquity: cars. The 123-page report, entitled The Connected Car: Who's in the Driver's Seat?, examines the complex telematics systems found in cars nowadays that can do everything from unlocking doors, providing navigation, streaming music, reading your text messages, and calling your spouse to say you'll be late. The number of features and sophistication of in-vehicle connectivity have grown in recent years and become a standard feature in vehicles of all makes and models. The report describes the large amounts of data that connected cars collect, some of which is personal and potentially sensitive, and the privacy and data security concerns surrounding the collection and use of this data.