15/05/2026
Trillions of miles of data: Your car is spying on you, and it's only just the beginning
From your weight and facial expressions to your destination, cars collect a startling amount of data about you. Some of it may even raise your insurance costs. But you can take some simple steps to limit what they know about you.
Cars used to mean freedom. When I first got the keys to the old family Toyota it was a rite of passage, a sign I was old enough to step away from the watchful eyes of my parents and enter a world where time and decisions were mine alone. Things change.
Modern cars are computers on wheels, and giant corporations are using them to suck up intimate details about your life and make more money. If you think driving today is a chance for solitude and independence, think again. And it looks like it's about to get a lot worse.
Car companies will tell you themselves if you wade through their privacy policies. The information they harvest can include precise location data about everywhere you go, who's in the car with you, what's on the radio and whether you buckle your seatbelt, drive too fast or brake too hard. Some can gather details you might not expect like your weight, age, race and facial expressions. Do you pick your nose? Some cars have cameras on the inside pointed at the driver's seat. And most come with internet connections that can ship off that data as you drive in blissful ignorance.
This is a privacy problem that can cost you money. Among the biggest customers for car data are insurance companies, and they're using it to charge some people higher prices. But there's no telling where your information is going. Some car companies admit they sell your data, but they don't have to say who's buying. That's to say nothing of the fact that you might find it a little creepy. Most consumers, experts say, have no idea it's even happening.
"People would be shocked at the number of data points that their car collects and transmits to other people, either the manufacturer or third-party applications," says Darrell West, a senior fellow in the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institute in Washington DC. "It basically means your life can be recreated almost on a second-by-second basis."
Feeling uncomfortable yet? A federal law is about to increase the amount of data your car can gather about you. It will soon require American car companies to install infrared biometric cameras and other systems to scan your body language, track your eyes or other aspects of your behavoiur to detect whether you're too drunk or tired to drive. But it will also open up a whole new trove of data about your health and your habits. There are no rules limiting what the car companies can do with that information.
