Once Vehicles Are Connected To the Internet of Things, Who Guards Your Privacy?

Lucas123 (935744) writes Carmakers already remotely collect data from their vehicles, unbeknownst to most drivers, but once connected via in-car routers or mobile devices to the Internet, and to roadway infrastructure and other vehicles around them, that information would be accessible by the government or other undesired entities. Location data, which is routinely collected by GPS providers and makers of telematics systems, is among the most sensitive pieces of information that can be collected, according to Nate Cardozo, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "Not having knowledge that a third party is collecting that data on us and with whom they are sharing that data with is extremely troubling," Cardozo said. in-vehicle diagnostics data could also be used by government agencies to track driver behavior. Nightmare scenarios could include traffic violations being issued without law enforcement officers on the scene or federal agencies having the ability to track your every move in a car. That there could be useful data in all that personally identifiable bits made me think of Peter Wayner's "Translucent Databases."

Comments

The Cavalry

[Bender0x7D1]

This is the reason the group I Am The Cavalry was formed.

I have a phone in my pocket

[Anonymous Coward]

... all the time. It knows where I am. It knows how fast I'm going. It knows who I talk to. It listens. It sees.

And it's connected constantly.

Re:I have a phone in my pocket

[vortechs]

maybe for you but not for the rest of us. and there's no law to carry cell phones

Technically, there's no law saying have to drive a car either...

Re:I have a phone in my pocket

[jc42]

... It knows where I am. It knows how fast I'm going. ...

Well, maybe, and maybe not.

I recall a couple years ago, when I was traveling south on a street in a nearby town, but when I glanced at the GPS gadget, it showed me about a block north of where I was -- and headed north. Traffic was light, so I looked at it frequently, to see what it did, and it showed me continuing north, until my actual location was nearly a mile south of what it showed. Then it decided I'd made a U-turn, and was proceeding south at a rather high speed. Finally, the little You-Are-Here icon reached my actual position, and slowed down to match me. A bit later, I checked its records of that trip, and it showed a max speed somewhat over 250 mph.

So if the police had access to that data, I'd have got a ticket for going about 8 times the legal speed limit. I sorta suspect that most judges would laugh and toss it out. But if it'd been only twice the speed limit, I'd probably have had a large fine to pay.

And note that the position was credible, though it was roughly a mile off. A couple of months ago, however, I noticed that, while my bearing and speed seemed accurate, my GPS position was roughly 100 miles SE of my actual position, which put me maybe 10 or 20 miles east of Cape Cod, driving along in the ocean. It stayed that way for at least 15 minutes, and then suddenly popped over to a local street a few blocks from my actual position.

I've also seen it showing my position as being in north-central Canada, and somewhere in Nevada, when I was actually in the Boston metro area.

So if the police are tracking our GPS position and speed, we have no defense. Yes, maybe the judges will dismiss the tickets that are obviously so badly wrong. But if they're only off by a few miles or mph, we'll all be getting completely bogus tickets that we'll have to pay.

Of course, they may still dismiss them for people who "look right" and "talk right", as they do with claimed drug offenses. ;-)

Just wait 'til the Insurance Companies get it!

[X!0mbarg]

The rates will likely skyrocket to near-Canadian rate levels, and there might be a change in Speeding Ticket-Issuing technologies that could (conceivably) issue live warnings and even Tickets based on telemetry and other live info...

Imagine getting caught up in a construction or accident re-direct, and their being a batch of auto-tickets issued for using the wrong lane(s) or traveling on a closed section of road! People won't really be able to fight a live-issued ticked based on in-vehicle speed data after all because it's going to come form your own speedometer and correlated with satellite tracking for accuracy.

Talk about a Revenue Stream! Who needs a Speed Trap, when your Vehicle will issue you a ticket directly.

Government will simply mandate it, and it Will Be So.

Mark my words...

Re:Just wait 'til the Insurance Companies get it!

[ColdWetDog]

As long as Milla Jovovich comes crashing through my roof, you can send me as many tickets as you like.

Not just cars ...

[gstoddart]

This is true of your thermostat, your fridge, and pretty much anything else which is a part of this "internet of things".

Every aspect about what these devices does will be analyzed, used for marketing information, handed over to law enforcement, or your insurance company, or anybody who hacks into it.

For some of us, this whole IoT is a privacy nightmare waiting to happen, and we have no interest whatsoever in it.

Unfortunately, a lot of people like to see that as a sign that you're paranoid and getting alarmist about things which will never happen.

And then, like the widespread surveillance being misused (which they swore would never happen), parallel construction (which is perjury in my books), or the scope creep we see all around us ... almost inevitably this comes true and people act surprised.

Sorry, but I for one will not be enabling this crap. It just seems like technology for the sake of it, and by the time people realize that those among us who have been saying this will be a problem were right, it's too damned late.

Unless there are laws governing how a company can use the information, and some controls over law enforcement to prevent them from getting this and misusing it ... the internet of things is a terrible idea, and will not make your life better. The sheer amount of information about every aspect of your life which will be in someone else's hands is staggering.

In the end, I predict it will make our lives far worse, and usher in even more of this surveillance society we've been seeing.

We can't trust them with the information they have now, let alone from another bunch of sources in your life.

You really think the government won't insist on getting all this data without a warrant? And they won't claim you have no reasonable expectation of privacy and that they should be entitled to know where everybody is at all times? Or that corporations won't sell this for marketing purposes? Or to deny you service?

Hell no. Now, pass the tin foil please.

Re:The good news is

[StayFrosty]

Your '84 T-bird was fuel-injected and had electronic ignition. It was in no way EMP-proof.

In the future

[pkinetics]

I can totally see people getting ratted out by their Internet of Things devices.

Mother: Who ate the last piece of cake?

Fridge: Gary ate the last piece of cake.

Wife: Where was Gary last night?

Car: Gary was at the strip club with Larry and Moe.

Police Officer: How fast were you going?

Gary:I don't know.

Chevy: Gary was going 57 miles per hour. He was 7 miles over the limit.

Police Officer: Have you had anything to drink?

Gary: No officer.

Chevy: Gary was tailgating with Larry and Moe. The cooler says they have consumed 3 cases of beer.