Who Actually Owns Your Car’s Data? Congress Just Introduced Bills to Find Out

Do you have the right to vehicle data privacy? That’s an interesting question, that should be asked along with other questions regarding data and privacy.

What happens to the data generated by your vehicle? Are you aware that your vehicle is constantly creating data based on your driving habits, and that data could be sent to manufacturers and your insurance company? The data generated by your vehicle can be valuable as automakers work to develop self-driving vehicles. This data helps them understand driving habits and expectations that most drivers will have. The trouble comes in when that data is used against you.

DRIVER Act is defining automotive data ownership

Two new federal bills would give car owners control over the data their vehicles generate, blocking automakers from selling your driving habits without permission and letting fleet operators access critical info for repairs and safety. It’s important for fleet operators to have data access, but your vehicle data privacy should be yours to control, especially for your privately-owned vehicle. A car manufacturer shouldn’t be able to engage in data collection and the sale of that information without your consent, and the two new federal bills that have been proposed would ensure you maintain control of the data collected and recorded by your vehicle.

What are the bills that protect vehicle data privacy?

These two bills that have been proposed are called the Data Rights to Information and Vehicle Electronic Records (DRIVER) Act and the Auto Data Privacy and Autonomy (ADPA) Act. These acts require vehicle manufacturers to provide drivers with full access to all data generated by their vehicles. This new vehicle privacy legislation could be your ticket to control access and sharing of the data generated by your vehicle, ensuring you maintain privacy where you desire.

You are empowered

The new legislation is meant to prevent automakers from imposing terms and fees that limit your control of the connected car data of your vehicle. This gives you control over the information without the need to pay extra to protect that information. The DRIVER Act ensures you have the right to restrict sharing and selling your information. The ADPA prohibits automakers from accessing certain data without your consent. It also ensures you have access to the data without additional charges. This bill also limits the data that manufacturers may collect.

Why are these bills important to vehicle data privacy?

Before the use of computers and connectivity in cars, drivers owned all the data generated. In cars without computers, there wasn’t any data except for the odometer reading to reflect the number of miles driven. In today’s world, vehicles are more connected than ever, data is mined and collected periodically, and some automakers have begun claiming ownership of that data. These two bills will ensure that data remains owned by the vehicle owner and can be critical in restoring trust that drivers can have access to and control of their information.

How does this help rental fleets?

Instead of paying for the data of vehicles they own and rent out to customers, these fleet operators will now have access to the data at no cost. Prior to these bills, rental operators had to pay OEMs for vehicle data if additional fees were paid. The automakers are no longer the gatekeepers of vehicle data, and that makes it much more accessible to owners, ensuring they can manage the information and how it’s used. The data helps rental operators manage their fleets, including scheduling maintenance and repairs as needed.

Privacy matters and builds trust

Vehicle data privacy is extremely important to most people. When individual owners have control and ownership of their data, they are more likely to trust automakers. The proposed bills help to move forward with trust and confidence. Rather than paying automakers for data that was generated by the vehicle they own, drivers will have access to and control over the data, which can be important for privacy, safety, and innovation. This is an important step forward and could require automakers to be much more transparent as they work to develop autonomous vehicles.

Who has access to the data generated by your vehicle? If the DRIVER Act and ADPA Act pass Congress and are signed into law, you will have the vehicle data privacy you deserve. These acts put ownership of data into the hands of vehicle owners, moving it away from automakers. The connected and online world we live in could mean we will see more bills like these in the near future.