Connected cars are still behaving a lot like smartphones on wheels, at least in how often they reach out to outside companies.
A Verge report on new research from Northeastern University and Consumer Reports says researchers tested 21 late-model vehicles from 19 brands sold in the US and found that every one of them transmitted data to at least one third-party domain over Wi-Fi.
More than half of the vehicles in the sample reportedly contacted domains tied to advertising, tracking, or analytics companies. The report describes those firms as the kinds of intermediaries that can collect information about a vehicle or driving behavior for uses including ad targeting and insurance-related profiling.
The findings extended beyond the cars themselves. The Verge reports that seven companion apps — HondaLink, Lincoln, MyNissan, myCadillac, myChevrolet, myBuick, and myGMC — transmitted sensitive details including vehicle identification numbers, phone numbers, and precise locations directly to advertising networks.
That matters because a VIN can link activity back to a specific vehicle, and when paired with other personal information it can help data brokers assemble detailed profiles of individual drivers.
One response highlighted in the report
Automakers' reactions were mixed in the Verge account, but one concrete change stood out. The report says Honda asked its analytics provider Amplitude to delete collected location data and updated the HondaLink app so it would stop transmitting geolocation after the company was shown the researchers' findings.
The broader picture in the report is that vehicle connectivity is creating a growing privacy problem for drivers who may have little visibility into where their data goes once a car and its companion app are set up. As described by The Verge, the study adds fresh detail to a long-running concern around how much information modern vehicles share with third parties and how difficult that sharing can be for owners to fully understand or control.
