Connected vehicles transmit data to third parties, study finds

A study conducted by researchers from Northeastern University in collaboration with Consumer Reports has revealed significant privacy concerns regarding modern connected vehicles. By monitoring the network traffic of 21 new vehicles and 30 complementary applications, researchers found that most manufacturers transmit data to third-party entities.

Out of the 21 vehicles tested, 19 sent data to at least one third party. More than half of the vehicles contacted domains related to advertising, tracking, or analytics. The study, which monitored data transmission both while driving and while parked, suggests that it is currently nearly impossible for a consumer to purchase a new vehicle that does not engage in some form of tracking.

While the encrypted nature of the traffic prevented researchers from seeing the specific content of the data, the destination of the information was clearly identified. This follows a 2023 finding by Mozilla, which categorized automotive privacy policies as among the worst reviewed for consumer data protection.