Your car knows more about your sex life than you think | Tech News

Car manufacturers are collecting an extensive range of extremely personal data – including information about drivers‘ sex lives.

An investigation by the Mozilla project has labelled 25 major car brands a ‘privacy nightmare on wheels’ after reviewing their respective privacy policies.

It found manufacturers ‘collect and share deeply personal data, including sexual activity, facial expressions, and genetic and health information’.

In the case of Kia, its privacy policy specifically states it may collect ‘information about your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation, sex life and political opinions’.

Other brands assessed included BMW, Ford, Toyota, Tesla and Subaru.

Alongside collecting an extensive range of personal data, half of the manufacturers assessed will share information with the government or law enforcement in response to a request, rather than a court order.

However, some of the privacy policies assessed were specific to the US, rather than Europe.

In the case of Nissan, US owners must be prepared to have the following data collected: ‘Sensitive personal information, including driver’s licence number, national or state identification number, citizenship status, immigration status, race, national origin, religious or philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation, sexual activity, precise geolocation, health diagnosis data, and genetic information.’

Mozilla regularly conducts ‘Privacy Not Included’ (PNI) surveys, investigating firms and services to help consumers protect their data. All 25 brands assessed in this latest survey received failing marks for consumer privacy, a first in the guide’s seven-year history.

‘Many people think of their car as a private space – somewhere to call your doctor, have a personal conversation with your kid on the way to school, cry your eyes out over a break-up, or drive places you might not want the world to know about,’ said PNI programme director Jen Caltrider. 

‘But that perception no longer matches reality. All new cars today are privacy nightmares on wheels that collect huge amounts of personal information.’

Cars scored worse for privacy than fitness trackers, reproductive-health apps, smart speakers and other connected home appliances.

Mozilla reported it was also unable to confirm whether any of the brands assessed encrypt the personal data stored on vehicles. Only one brand, Mercedes, responded to Mozilla’s questions regarding encryption.

The report also singled out Audi and Tesla for featuring privacy policies that are ‘confusing, lengthy and vague’, while noting other brands had more than five different privacy documents.

‘Cars have microphones and people have all kinds of sensitive conversations in them. Cars have cameras that face inward and outward,’ said Ms Caltrider.

‘Cars seem to have really flown under the privacy radar and I’m really hoping that we can help remedy that because they are truly awful.’

In April, a Reuters investigation revealed Tesla employees shared videos from the company’s vehicles on internal messaging systems, often joking about sensitive images.

Videos shared included a man approaching his car naked, a child being knocked off their bike and someone being dragged into a car seemingly against their will.

MORE : Tesla staff shared and joked about sensitive videos recorded by vehicles

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