There’s no doubt technology has made our lives easier and more connected than ever before and advancements in the auto industry are beyond what anyone could have ever dreamt of. But at what price?
Just like an ex that won’t stop watching your Instagram Stories, our modern cars are watching and tracking our every move each time we get behind the wheel. While we still get from A to B safely, perhaps even more so than 30 years ago, today we are spoilt for choice when it comes to these high tech extras, and even the standard safety and connectivity features we have come to expect in our cars.
While it might sound like a dystopian thriller, the advancement in car technology over the last few years means that “tracking” has already started, and it’s more commonplace than you may think.
In 2021, Tesla started using their in-car technology to monitor drivers by accessing the camera above the rear-view mirror in the Model 3 and Model Y, to help ensure drivers are paying attention to the road while using Autopilot, the company’s advanced driver assistance system.
Previously, the company had measured driver attention through steering-wheel sensors which would check for resistance – basically, whether or not they had their hands on the wheel and if it didn’t register enough feedback, it would set off visual and audible warnings.
This change in the way Tesla used their technology comes after repeated calls from regulators and safety experts for better driver monitoring systems. Tesla CEO Elon Musk had previously been vocal about any possible changes, rejecting his own engineer’s calls for improved monitoring, saying Autopilot crashes were due to driver complacency.
Elon has said some wild stuff in his time but calling improved safety and monitoring measures “ineffective” is right up there.
Despite Elon’s reluctance to catch up, General Motors and Ford have been ahead of the game, with their own camera-based eye-tracking systems that track the driver’s attention span while using hands-free driving features. Driving surveillance is increasingly becoming harder to avoid as the auto industry catches up with technology.
In a 2019 Washington Post article, columnist Geoffrey A. Fowler drove a 2017 Chevrolet and quickly found out how much he was being tracked by the car. It collected his precise location, stored phone data (including outgoing calls to friends) and judged acceleration and braking style, all while sending this valuable information back to General Motors over an always-on Internet connection.
In fact, this technology is so commonplace now there are an estimated 78 million cars on the road that have some form of tracking technology. Experts predict this number to increase, estimating 98% of all new cars sold will include it within the next few years.
And you don’t need a Tesla, or a Chevrolet to be tracked with modern car entertainment systems doing most of the work. Have you ever connected your iPhone to a car’s Bluetooth or to CarPlay? Some reports suggest this allows access to all sorts of saved data including your contact list, call logs, messages, pictures, and location data.
What are the benefits of tracking and data?
While it might creep you out knowing your every move is being watched, there are some upsides to this constant surveillance, like making you easier to find in an emergency, providing data that improves safety features and city planning, making your life easier by giving a heap of apps important info (think Uber or Maps showing you the closest coffee shop and petrol stations) and can help you make more informed decisions about your car insurance and about how, when, and where you drive to.
Whatever the future holds, it seems likely this technology and our need for it in our car will only increase in the years to come.
Can you opt out?
Well not quite. Unlike social media platforms and internet browsers, there currently is not any policies that state carmakers need to allow owners the ability to delete any data captured by their vehicle.
You can however choose not to pair your smartphone up with the Apple Carplay or Android Auto functionality which uses your location to provide maps.
Keyword: Is your car tracking you?