[visakhmv]

I've watched an alarming video from the YouTube channel Coldfusion which discuss about how many car manufacturers in th US are collecting multiple driver data including but not limited to driving style, driver bahaviour, gender, emotion etc.

Where this becomes concerning is these data is being shared with an aggregator which uses this data to increase the insurance policy rate and in a case mentioned in the video deny warranty.

With the increasing prevalence in the connected car tech in India this is not far from happening here.

Much of these data collection rarely has an opt out option and most consumers are not even aware about what this data being used on.

Here is the mentioned video.

https://youtu.be/7Olo7B2ZydI

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by visakhmv

I've watched an alarming video from the YouTube channel Coldfusion which discuss about how many car manufacturers in the US are collecting multiple driver data including but not limited to driving style, driver behaviour, gender, emotion etc.

I don't find anything alarming regarding collecting data to make driving safe. The problem is that they should not be collecting data without informing the driver. I think collecting telemetry data should be made mandatory so that drivers are aware that their driving is being monitored. If someone is taking up the responsibility of driving, then that person should be fully accountable for the vehicle and should not be doing anything apart from driving.
I have been using blackboxes on my cars for the last 6 years and I am happy to share the data with the insurance companies. I have nothing to hide about my locations and the benefits are much more than the inconveniences. I get discounts for good driving, it is a theft deterrent as well as it can provide evidence during an accident. It rewards safe drivers and penalises bad ones. What is there to not like! I agree sometimes it is annoying because it promotes safe driving and that includes less driving at night. Since I love night driving my score goes a little bit down, but that is a small sacrifice in the grand scheme of things.

This is the Black Box on my Defender showing the data as of today -

[visakhmv]

Nothing wrong with collecting data and making better drivers but it should be consensual. The user shouldn't know about whats being done when the insurance premium is increased suddenly. There should be total transparency. One small infraction shouldn't decide the whole outcome and there should be due process.

As in the video states what happens when someone else is driving the car and what if it is in an environment where spirited driving is allowed e.g in a race track.

Manufacturers are making money by selling this data and all parties involved should be aware of what's happening - the car shouldn't be spying on it's owner.

[Samba]

There is both good and bad side to it.
The day we started using mobile phones (especially smartphones) we came under surveillance!

We search or talk about a certain product over the phone, & the next day we start getting flooded with that particular product's ad.
Now our mobile phones track us, & in the next few months once the GPS-tracked toll collection gets enabled in India, our cars will track us too! Though the connected cars already track us, then every car will get tracked!

Selling people's data has now become a huge business with a good profit margin. We buy a car in India, the insurance companies or the RTOs sell our data/phone numbers to the scamsters and we start getting fake calls about RSA and whatnot! Even the banks leak our data to the fraudsters and we get fake calls from someone mentioning our cards/account details and all!

So coming to this topic, the good part is, that the good drivers will get rewarded and the bad drivers will have to pay more. Once a person pays extra due to his bad driving habits, he will mostly become more cautious & try to improve his driving skills and this should make our roads a safer place than what it is now.

The bad part is, that these companies are sharing our private data without our consent. Companies are taking undue advantage of using these data.
For example, from the video shared in the first post, the way Toyota denied the warranty claim for driving the car above 85 MPH is unjustified. If your car's mechanical parts can't handle that speed, then the company should restrict the car's speed much before that! The law/police are there to penalise the owner for over-speeding, the company can't use that data to deny a warranty!

[Cresterk]

Yes, there is a reason why some form of connected car tech is offered even in many base models. It was never about your benefit.

[Samarth 619]

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

I don't find anything alarming regarding collecting data to make driving safe. The problem is that they should not be collecting data without informing the driver.

You're definitely not considering the long term aspect of this.

Till yesteryear, you had a choice between Smartphone and dumbphone, one day you won't because 2G is being phased out.
Once you could choose between smartTV and normal TV, now you can't (unless you're ok with 32 inch screen).
Today you have a choice with a disconnected car, tomorrow you won't. They just won't offer you.

Once they showed you a motion sensing game in 2012, and then they made hyper precise motion sensors available in every phone in the market, even if you don't use it.
Microphones are so sensitive, they work even when phone is under water. And they listen to our conversations, they know what all we do, how often, how we live.

Once data from every agency merges, you won't be able to hide anything even if you wish.
Your "I don't have anything to hide" will be more like "I can't hide anything even if I want to".

And even if all this is going to my country's government, I could've accepted this, but its going to USA while my govt cluelessly watches on, as their requests to hold data in India get rejected (they tried). And you don't have a single right under US laws.

You think democracy will stand a chance when they know everything about you, but you don't know anything about them? The entire nation's each nook and corner is visible to them.
How will you keep your family safe, in case our country goes at war?

The long term is looking very dangerous to me. To the extent of our country being at risk.

NOTE: If asked to prove, I can prove every fact I typed here.

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by Samarth 619

You're definitely not considering the long term aspect of this.

Till yesteryear, you had a choice between Smartphone and dumbphone, one day you won't because 2G is being phased out.

There are many things that were available 50 years back and are now obsolete. That is bound to happen, nothing new going on here.

Originally Posted by Samarth 619

Once data from every agency merges, you won't be able to hide anything even if you wish.
Your "I don't have anything to hide" will be more like "I can't hide anything even if I want to".

Sorry to say but I cannot lead my life with this level of paranoia. I really don't care what they do with my data.

Originally Posted by Samarth 619

NOTE: If asked to prove, I can prove every fact I typed here.

That will be great for laymen like me.