Connected cars collect an unsettling amount of data on drivers

A German motorists organization recently conducted a study on connected cars and how much driver data they gather, and the findings are a little unsettling. Known as the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (ADAC), the organization found that at lease one recent model, the BMW 320d, not only collects distance and trip data, but records pretty much everything your cars does, including the destinations you enter into the navigation system. Not even the information on your smartphone is safe if you have it connected to the car, as synchronized contact information was also stored.

Car drivers may imagine they have greater privacy than public transport users, but that isn’t necessarily the case in modern, connected cars, European motoring organizations warned this week. To help identify faults or plan maintenance, manufacturers are able to gather performance data from connected cars such as the total distance travelled, or the length and number of trips made. But drivers may be unaware of just how much other information such cars allow manufacturers to gather about them. A study conducted by German motorists organization ADAC for European lobby group FIA Region 1 found that in addition to trip and distance data, one recent model reported maximum engine revolutions, the status of vehicle lights — and far more besides. The car, a BMW 320d, also recorded the length of time the driver used different driving modes, and recorded when the seatbelt tightened due to sudden braking. More sinisterly, it also transmitted the latest destinations entered into the car’s navigation system, and personal information such as contacts synchronized from mobile phones. ADAC only examined one car, and wants to extend the study to see how other brands behave, a spokeswoman said.