Data Privacy Would Be In Car Owners' Hands With The DRIVER Act

Your car is the worst at protecting your data, and so far, the government hasn't done a whole lot about it. That may be about to change, as three members of Congress have introduced the DRIVER Act, which would give vehicle owners control over how much data they share with manufacturers rather than the free-for-all we have today.

The bill, the full name of which is the Data Rights for Information and Vehicle Electronics in Real-time (DRIVER) Act, would require manufacturers to allow owners access to all of the data a vehicle collects, either through the standard OBD-II port or a standardized, secure wireless connection. They would then have the ability to opt in or out of sharing that data (with a few exceptions), as well as delete the data. This includes personal data, including connected devices such as phones, driver behavior, precise geolocation data, and biometrics. 

Anonymized and aggregate data would still be available to manufacturers even if you opt out, since your identity isn't required for tasks like improved traffic light control using location data. There are also exceptions for data sharing actively initiated by the driver, to first responders, and for diagnostic purposes. 

Nothing is quite perfect, and there are a few loopholes in the DRIVER Act that would allow manufacturers to continue to nag us on occasion. For example, a provision for "determining or effectuating vehicle field actions, including customer satisfaction campaigns, technical service bulletins, compliance recalls, and safety recalls" would still allow pop-up ads on infotainment screens. While it would be an effective way to notify owners about recalls, it could also become another annoying pop-up if the parts or procedures to fix the recall aren't yet available at the dealer. Another provision for "administering and fulfilling motor vehicle warranties" opens us up to "we have been trying to reach you about your extended warranty" pop-ups as well. 

However, these are small nags compared to what we have now, where our cars share who knows what data with who knows who. Manufacturers have already been caught selling data on our driving habits with insurance companies behind our backs, enriching them at our expense, with no option to opt out. Individual states have tried to enact automotive data privacy laws before, but they didn't go far enough, and only applied to that specific state. Despite some small loopholes in the DRIVER Act, national legislation like this is what we need to truly keep control of our vehicle data to ourselves, where it belongs.