Anti-Right-to-Repair Automakers Admit to Sharing Driver Data Without Required Warrant
Several automakers recently admitted to Congress that they would share drivers’ data with lawyers and law enforcement without a warrant, according to the Drive.
In 2014, several automakers signed on to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation's (AAI) Consumer Privacy Protection Principles, which promised to withhold data on location, biometric, or driving behavior data from third parties unless presented with a court order.
Now, Automotive News has reported that eight of those automakers–Toyota, Subaru, Mazda, Nissan, Kia, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen–told Congress that they would share a driver’s data if presented with a subpoena. However, a subpoena is not a court order backed by a judge, but only a request for information from a lawyer.
The revelation prompted backlash from Senators Ron Wyden and Ed Markey, who in a statement to the Federal Trade Commission claimed it was proof of these automakers going back on the agreement they signed in 2014.
The lobby group behind that agreement, AAI, have been actively fighting against the passage of right-to-repair legislation, having held campaigns on the alleged threats it poses to data security.
