A new CHOICE investigation into Australia's ten most popular car brands has revealed which companies are tracking and monitoring drivers.
CHOICE analysed the privacy policies of brands such as Toyota, Mazda and Ford to assess the data they collect from drivers, what they do with it, and whether they allow consumers to opt in or out of data collection practices.
"We discovered that Kia, Hyundai and Tesla were the worst offenders when it came to protecting the privacy of their customers. Kia and Hyundai both collect and share voice recognition data with third parties, along with other information," says Rafi Alam, Senior Campaigns and Policy Advisor at CHOICE.
"Tesla takes it one step further, collecting 'short video clips and images' captured from the camera inside the vehicle, and shares some data with third parties," says Alam.
Our investigation found Toyota, Ford, MG and Mazda also collect - and sometimes share - customer data. Toyota, Australia's biggest car brand, collects both vehicle location data and information on a driver's acceleration, braking and cornering behaviour.
"The only three brands that don't collect or share driver data in Australia are Mitsubishi, Subaru and Isuzu Ute. The fact that these three are outnumbered by the seven other brands we looked at is highly concerning," says Alam.
The car companies collecting data who responded to us said all customers are offered an opt-out function. However, drivers are often opted-in automatically when they buy a car or download the car's app, and may not even know it's happening.
"The results of our investigation are a timely reminder that Australia's privacy laws are woefully out of date, and certainly not fit for purpose in a market where cars are collecting and sharing personal information en masse," says Alam.
"Under the current laws, businesses are able to write their own rules through their privacy policies. At a minimum, the federal government should implement a fair-and-reasonable-use test, which would legally require businesses to collect and use data in line with consumer expectations," says Alam.
Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
