The Federal Trade Commission has been urged by Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Ed Markey, D-Mass., to further look into the data privacy practices of major automakers, according to The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.
In a letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan, the senators noted that Hyundai and Honda had received more than $1 million and over $25,000, respectively, for selling vehicle data to data broker Verisk. Verisk also provided compensation for vehicular data to General Motors although the company did not specify the number of cars from which it shared data and the amount it received from the data broker. Hyundai had its customers enrolled in data sharing upon purchase of the vehicle while Honda sought consent via an optional Driver Feedback program, according to the lawmakers. Similar dark patterns in data collection were exercised by GM, which did not inform their customers regarding data collection as part of the Smart Driver program.
