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Personal information stored inside cars

presents a potential risk to dealers

By Debora Toth, NIADA.com

When a driver sells a used car to a Text messages, call logs, home addresses In the automotive industry – especially
dealership, he or she is often reminded to and even medical and financial information used car dealerships – that problem
check around the vehicle for personal items are all vulnerable to theft if left behind has been festering for some time. A few
– a cellphone, say, or maybe a child’s toy. when a vehicle is sold. individuals have been ringing the warning
bell for years to alert the industry about PII
But what about personal data stored in the The numbers provide a true sense of the in vehicles. State legislatures in California,
car’s computer system? enormity of the problem of what is known New York and Georgia have taken the lead
as “persistent data.” More than 80 percent by enacting privacy laws, and more than a
How many consumers know what type of of the vehicles currently operating in the dozen other states have bills pending.
personal information is in their vehicles U.S. are able to capture personal data, and
when they sell it? more than four out of five cars sold last year Federal agencies, including the Federal
contain personal data. Trade Commission, are taking a hard look
Personally identifiable information (PII) is at the issue. In 2017, the FTC co-sponsored
data that can be used to identify a specific What’s most concerning a national conference with the National
individual. It starts with Social Security is consumers are not as Highway Traffic Safety Administration
numbers, mailing or email addresses, phone and asked NHTSA to define its role and
numbers and the like, but also includes a aware of the security risks responsibilities related to the privacy of
wide range of digitally available data, such as they should be. data generated by and collected from
as IP addresses, login information and vehicles. Currently, the issue is still largely
more. A recent IBM security survey revealed only undefined by law.
8 percent of consumers were worried about
Much of that data is collected by vehicles, as protecting car navigation data compared to Peder Magee, a senior attorney for the
users connect their smartphones to vehicle 64 percent who cared about data security in FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection,
infotainment systems and use onboard their mobile devices. said there is no law enforced by the bureau
navigation systems and universal garage that specifically requires companies to
door openers. delete or protect the privacy of consumers’

4 | MIDATLANTIC DEALER NEWS | MIDATLANTICAUTODEALERSUNITED.ORG • APRIL 2022