‘Cars now run on the new oil — your data.’
What does your car know about you?
In my latest @washingtonpost privacy experiment, I tried to find out from a Chevy. The dashboard didn’t say. It wasn’t in the manual or GM’s obtuse privacy policy. To glimpse my car data, we had to hack our way in: https://t.co/I4oBBjyrkb pic.twitter.com/HTDqIuSGaQ — Geoffrey A. Fowler (@geoffreyfowler) December 17, 2019
I had help doing a car privacy autopsy from Jim Mason, a forensic engineer. That involved cracking open the dashboard to access just one of the car's many computers. Don’t try this at home — we had to take the computer into the shop to get repaired.https://t.co/9vRRwZgD3V pic.twitter.com/zaCNGRdVCd — Geoffrey A. Fowler (@geoffreyfowler) December 17, 2019
Just on the car’s infotainment system, we found my precise location, my phone’s ID and the people I called. Elsewhere, the car judged my acceleration and braking, beaming back reports to GM. Cars now have hundreds of sensors and always-on connections. https://t.co/9vRRwZgD3V pic.twitter.com/YQTfVXIZUz — Geoffrey A. Fowler (@geoffreyfowler) December 17, 2019
Wow. Read and watch the full washingtonpost.com feature here: What does your car know about you? We hacked a Chevy to find out. Our privacy experiment found that automakers collect data through hundreds of sensors and an always-on Internet connection. Driving surveillance is becoming hard to avoid. [washingtonpost.com]We also bought a used Chevy computer on eBay. There was enough data to reconstruct the New York life of a total stranger. He or she frequently called someone listed as “Sweetie,” whose photo we also have. We know their favorite restaurant (Taste China).https://t.co/I4oBBjyrkb pic.twitter.com/r98vSY5pyQ — Geoffrey A. Fowler (@geoffreyfowler) December 17, 2019