Auto Brands Score Abysmally on Consumer Privacy

Mozilla, the foundation behind the Mozilla Firefox web browser, says cars are the worst product when it comes to consumers’ privacy.

In a review of 25 auto brands, it gave all 25 its “Privacy Not Included” warning label, “making cars the official worst category of products for privacy that we have ever reviewed.”

Mozilla declare cars “terrible” at handling consumers’ personal information, saying they collect too much personal data, that most of them share or sell that data and give consumers little to no control over its use, and that it couldn’t learn whether any brand meets its minimum security standards.

“It’s so strange to us that dating apps and sex toys publish more detailed security information than cars,” it said in its report.

Mozilla said all the brands it researched use consumer data for things other than the car’s operation or their relationships with drivers. That’s all the more relevant because it says automakers have many more chances to collect such data than do other “smart” devices.

Collected data can include things that have nothing to do with driving, such as medical information and how fast the consumer drives, and automakers can even infer things about the driver, such as intelligence and interests, Mozilla said. The data, including personal information, can be sold to service providers, data brokers and others.

Just two brands give consumers the right to delete their personal data.

Mozilla said it couldn’t determine if any brands’ models encrypt personal data, which is its minimum standard, and that it gave 68% of them its “bad track record” for data breaches that compromised consumer privacy.

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Originally posted on Auto Dealer Today