Bloomberg Law: Bootleggers, Cops, and Cars: How Driving Became a Privacy Trap by Cassandre Coyer, Tonya Riley & Jorja Siemons about automatic license plate readers in Norfolk VA.
A subheading: “Data a Modern Car Can Collect”:
Biometric Data: Sensors and interior cameras can collect unique physical characteristics used to identify and verify drivers. Examples: voice recordings, eye movements, facial recognition, fingerprints
Physiological Data: Some vehicles, especially those in fleets, have AI-powered detection capabilities to catch drowsiness or inattention, and sensors that could detect alcohol levels. Examples: intoxication, driver fatigue, inattention, heart rate
Cellphone and Mobile Apps Data: Anything done with a phone connected to a car, including calls, texts, and purchases, can be collected. Examples: call logs, contact lists, SMS messages, social media feeds, payment information, language, music preferences
Location and GPS Data: Vehicles can collect precise latitude and longitude details for navigation and as part of emergency assistance and other safety features. Examples: trips to children’s schools, medical clinics, places of worship, protests, home address
Usage and Driving Behavior Data: Certain car manufacturers’ applications, usage-based insurance devices, and in-vehicle features collect details about how a car is operated. Examples:
driving patterns, accelerations, braking, idle time, speed, seat belt use
Vehicle Operations and Accident Data: An event data recorder, a car’s equivalent of a black box, collects crash data. Examples: state of car pre- and post-crash, severity of crash, whether seatbelts were used or airbags deployed, direction from which vehicle was hit
Other Sensitive Data: Increasingly sophisticated connected features may inadvertently collect sensitive personal details about passengers. Examples: weight, children’s data
