Growing fears over the volumes of data and private information being collected by new “connected” cars have prompted the Privacy Commissioner to launch an investigation.
Carly Kind, a former Queensland-based human rights lawyer who took over the government agency in February, warned there was little transparency about what drivers’ personal data was used for.
It is now tasked with ensuring connected vehicles sold in Australia protect sensitive personal data.
“Cars are now sort of computers on wheels, and that means they collect a lot of information about people, including mainly information about their location, which tells us a lot of other things about people, including… about their delicate personal lives.” said Mrs. Kind. she said to Australian Financial Review.
“There’s a lot of data collected there, and there’s not a lot of transparency or understanding about how that data is used.”
Carly Kind (pictured) warned there was little transparency about what drivers’ personal data was used for.
Ms Kind said the sale of this data in the US by car manufacturers to car insurers was “leaking down to consumers in the form of potentially higher insurance premiums” (pictured: a Tesla at a charging station).
The Privacy Commissioner’s intervention comes after barefoot investor Scott Pape warned in March that new “internet-enabled cars” in the US often share data on speeding, braking and cornering of a driver with insurance companies.
Ms Kind said the sale of this data in the US by car manufacturers to car insurers was “leaking down to consumers in the form of potentially higher insurance premiums”.
In October, Katherine Kemp, an associate professor at UNSW’s School of Law and Justice, warned that “Australia’s privacy laws need urgent reform” to combat data collected by car companies.
“Australia’s privacy laws are not up to the task of protecting the vast amount of personal information collected and shared by car companies,” Ms Kemp wrote.
“And because our privacy laws do not require the specific disclosures required by some US states, we have much less information about what car companies are doing with our data.”
Kemp cited a U.S. study by the nonprofit Mozilla Foundation that found cars with Internet-connected features to be “the worst official category of privacy products” they had ever reviewed, calling them a “company nightmare.” privacy on wheels”.
They tested all the major car brands (Toyota, Ford, BMW, Volkswagen, Tesla, Hyundai) and found that none met minimum privacy standards.
Nearly 85 percent share or sell their data to third parties, while Nissan and Kia even allow the collection of data on a driver’s sex life.
“They come out bluntly and say they may collect and share your sexual activity, health diagnostic data and genetic information, and other sensitive personal information for targeted marketing purposes,” the Mozilla Foundation report says. state.
A US study by the non-profit Mozilla Foundation found that cars with Internet-connected features were “the worst official category of privacy products” they had ever reviewed, calling them a “privacy nightmare on wheels.” “.
Premier Anthony Albanese looks at an electric car charging station in a testing room, during a visit to Tritium, Brisbane, in March last year.
Privacy Commissioner Ms Kind added that there are also concerns about the images that electric cars can collect.
“I think there is a related and separate issue around certain types of vehicles, including electric vehicles, collecting a variety of other types of information, including video footage around the car and other types of surveillance footage,” the company said. Mrs. Kind to the publication. .
“So we’re really trying to interrogate what the obligations and privacy issues are in that space.”
Kind founded the London-based data and privacy research organisation, the Ada Lovelace Institute, in 2019 before taking up the government-appointed role.
The position, which reports to the Attorney General and involves the regulation of privacy and data issues, has a total salary of $365,570.