With cutting-edge smart technologies for electric vehicles, our cars have become more than just modes of transportation. They have already morphed into smart, data-gathering machines.
However, findings that some car manufacturers may be secretly tracking their owners' sex lives, as reported by The New York Post, have prompted serious privacy concerns.
Cars Tracking Sexual Activity
A recent study by the Mozilla Foundation, known for its Firefox web browser, conducted a comprehensive review of the data practices of 25 car companies.
The verdict? All 25 failed their privacy tests. While Tesla received the dubious honor of having the worst data practices, Nissan and Kia stand out for a particularly sensitive data set mentioned in their privacy policies: information about your sexual activity.
What Data Are They Collecting?
Both Nissan and Kia explicitly state in their privacy policies that they may collect information about your "sexual activity" and "sex life," sending shivers down the spines of privacy advocates.
Even worse, according to Mozilla, both companies appear to have the ability to sell this data to the highest bidder.
Kia's privacy policy, as dissected by Mozilla, reveals the unsettling truth. Not only do they collect vast amounts of data, but they also indicate they can sell it to boost their profits.
This is a practice that nearly all the car manufacturers reviewed engage in, and it is not sitting well with privacy-conscious consumers.
They also share this data with a network of entities, including affiliates, partners, service providers, advertising and social networks, as well as data analytics and market research providers.
Kia may even comply with governmental requests for your data, a move that raises eyebrows and concerns.
Nissan's privacy policy, on the other hand, paints a similarly disconcerting picture. The broad language used by Nissan suggests that they can collect and share your sensitive personal information, including data about sexual activity, health diagnoses, and genetic information, all for targeted marketing purposes.
A Cyberpunk Reality
If you have ever wondered why the dystopian worlds depicted in cyberpunk novels and films feel so eerily relevant, it might be because we live in one.
Your car, once a symbol of personal freedom, may now be quietly amassing data about your intimate habits and selling that information to corporations eager to bombard you with targeted ads.
The Response from Car Manufacturers
Some car companies, including Nissan, have already responded to these findings.
Nissan tells the New York Post that it does not knowingly collect or disclose consumer information on sexual activity or sexual orientation.
They attribute their privacy policy's broad language to compliance with state laws that require them to account for inadvertent data collection.
Regarding options for concerned consumers, Nissan claims to offer straightforward methods for opting out of data collection and disclosure.
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