25 Car Brands Fail Basic Data Privacy Tests, Tesla Ranked as ‘Creepiest’ by Mozilla

According to research published on Wednesday, the Mozilla Foundation, a non-profit organization, has declared cars as the “most problematic product category” in terms of data privacy. The foundation’s Privacy Not Included Research division evaluates various products, ranging from smart home devices to health and wellness apps. However, out of the 25 car brands examined by the research team, none of them managed to meet the required standards, with renowned brands such as Tesla, Nissan, and Hyundai ranking among the worst performers.

Tesla was rated for unreliable use of AI, making it the second product reviewed by Mozilla that failed every privacy test it ran. That’s because its AI-powered autopilot feature caused several deaths and hundreds of accidents. Meanwhile, companies like Nissan and Kia say they can collect information about your sexual activity and sex life, and Hyundai promises to comply with “formal or informal lawful requests” to share your information with authorities and law enforcement.

For this reason, Renault, Dacia and BMW remained the “least creepy” car options. Researchers could not confirm whether Renault, which owns Dacia, also hides the data it collects, and it doesn’t go much further than the data protection law requires, but compared to others, it’s not the worst. The reason BMW fell higher on the list was also marginal, as the researchers based it on the fact that the automaker does not explicitly say it sells data to third parties for advertising purposes, while other manufacturers explicitly say they do. “Based on BMW’s privacy policy, they may not be doing this. However, we are not 100% sure that they are not,” the researchers wrote.

Still, every car brand collected too much personal data, and most share or sell that data to third parties. The researchers spent 600 hours analyzing privacy policies, examining app features and working directly with the car companies themselves to determine the privacy rating, but still concluded it was one of the more confusing ratings they’ve tested.

“Sorting through the vast and confusing ecosystem of privacy practices for cars, car apps, in-car services, and more is not something most people don’t have the time or experience to do,” Mozilla’s Privacy Not Included team members wrote in a blog post. . That leaves nothing for car buyers to do if they’re looking for an option that takes privacy seriously, because at least according to Mozilla, they’re really bad.

“Unfortunately, consumers have very little control. You can choose not to use the car app or try not to use connected services, but that could mean your car won’t work properly – or not work at all,” Jen Caltrider Mukana, director of Privacy Not, said. have almost no control and options for privacy other than buying an older model. Regulators and decision makers are lagging behind on this front.”