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The Car of the Future Will Sell Your Data (bloomberg.com)

Posted by msmash on from the shape-of-things-to-come dept.

Picture this: You're driving home from work, contemplating what to make for dinner, and as you idle at a red light near your neighborhood pizzeria, an ad offering $5 off a pepperoni pie pops up on your dashboard screen. Are you annoyed that your car's trying to sell you something, or pleasantly persuaded? From a report: Telenav, a company developing in-car advertising software, is betting you won't mind much. Car companies -- looking to earn some extra money -- hope so, too. Automakers have been installing wireless connections in vehicles and collecting data for decades. But the sheer volume of software and sensors in new vehicles, combined with artificial intelligence that can sift through data at ever-quickening speeds, means new services and revenue streams are quickly emerging. The big question for automakers now is whether they can profit off all the driver data they're capable of collecting without alienating consumers or risking backlash from Washington. "Carmakers recognize they're fighting a war over customer data," said Roger Lanctot, who works with automakers on data monetization as a consultant for Strategy Analytics. "Your driving behavior, location, has monetary value, not unlike your search activity."

8 of 241 comments (clear)

  1. Maybe the Amiricans won't mind by The123king · · Score: 4, Informative

    But here in the UK we have strict regulations on distractions whilst driving. That's the same reason the billboard isn't a thing here in the UK.

    --
    If you gave me a choice between a printer and a giraffe with explosive diarrhoea, i'll get my ladder and my raincoat
    1. Re: Maybe the Amiricans won't mind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      Billboards in the UK are allowed in towns and cities but are illegal on high speed Motorways (highways) and dual carriageways for obvious reasons. They are also banned in green countryside areas in the UK too as they are classed as an eyesore.

    2. Re:Maybe the Amiricans won't mind by danbert8 · · Score: 4, Informative

      I disconnected On-Star from my GM Vehicle and odd things started happening, the most annoying of which was the cruise control would randomly stop working. The dealership plugged the On-Star module back in and voila everything worked fine again. They will integrate these systems so that you will not be able to unplug them.

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      Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
    3. Re:Maybe the Amiricans won't mind by BitterOak · · Score: 3, Informative

      Fuse does not work. I physically unplugged the OnStar module in my car and I keep getting phone calls from them telling me that my car needs to be taken in for service because they cannot connect to it.

      Just tell them you disconnected it because you don't want the OnStar feature. If the calls persist, just hang up on them. They'll eventually get the message. It sounds like you're letting yourself get bullied by your car company. Not a good idea.

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      If I can be modded down for being a troll, can I be modded up for being an orc, or a balrog?
  2. Everything by campuscodi · · Score: 3, Informative

    Everything in the future will sell your data. All companies are already looking at user data as cash cows. Chuck in a few lines in the ToS and you're good to go selling customers' data.

  3. Good luck by sjbe · · Score: 5, Informative

    I will avoid buying cars equipped with one, if all cars go this way I will pull the fuse on infotaiment system.

    Which in all likelihood will result in a car that does not start. I work with these sorts of system in my day job because my company provides wiring for them. These are (generally speaking) not well designed modular systems that can be easily disabled piecemeal. Car companies have virtually zero concept of modularity or security and all the systems tend to be tied into all the others WAY too closely. CAN bus is a hot mess. The way wiring is done in most vehicles would make the head of most slashdot readers explode with rage. It's the most scatterbrained ad-hoc thing you can imagine.

    We just did a set of harnesses for a vehicle being prototyped right now and the notion that you could disable the infotainment system on that vehicle with no further problems is laughable. You'd basically have to reprogram the whole thing and possibly replace a lot of the ECUs which for all practical purposes would be nigh impossible.

    One aspect people fail to consider is that if your car reports your location to advertisers, it also can be compelled to report your location to law enforcement, creditors, lawyers.

    Yep. Scary ain't it?

  4. Waze by Big+Nemo+'60 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Waze has been doing this for some time, but only when I stop at red lights. As soon as I move the ad goes away.

    I guess automakers would like a slice of the pie. I only wish they would be as self-constrained...

    --
    In the long run we are all dead. - John Maynard Keynes (1883 - 1946)
  5. They Do Already by Luthair · · Score: 3, Informative

    And we discussed it a month ago. Onstar in fact has been doing this for a decade even if you aren't a subscriber.