Baby You Can Drive My Car

Consumers can expect many benefits from their cars' increased data collection programs, running the gamut from simple location services like GPS and OnStar to "networked" cars that can communicate their location with other cars on the road to prevent accidents. In the near-future, data collection will even allow cars to care for themselves: technologies currently exist that can spot and diagnose internal mechanical problems long before such problems would have become apparent to a cars' owner, and cars are increasingly able to download patches directly from their automaker without ever needing to be taken to a mechanic.

As is usually the case when it comes to big data however, the benefits that come from increased collection also bring dangers. Speaking on a panel at the Washington Auto Show last Wednesday, Federal Trade Commissioner Maureen K. Olhausen advised the crowd that as the collection and disseminated of data by cars continues to increase, the automotive