Volkswagen has been collecting geolocation data from their smart cars, which were accidentally made public

https://lemmy.blackeco.com/post/1293180

Volkswagen has been collecting geolocation data from their smart cars, which were accidentally made public - Lemmy

Lemmy

What models have they tracked?

all their electric cars

Does my 2021 Seat Leon FR PHEV count as an EV in this case?

PHEV

Electric is in the name…

Oh, fuck off with your sarcastic answers, sometimes a PHEV does count as an EV, other times it absolutely does not count.

So where does it state that PHEVs are counted in this case?

Hey it looks like some other guy didn’t help you much. I’m not going to help much either but I’d imagine that if your model has any kind of smart infotainment type of thing then it’s probably being tracked. I mean, from a business perspective, why wouldn’t you? It’d be lovely to have systems that allow you to navigate, take photos, listen to music, contact friends…without spying on you. Sadly, I don’t think companies see such things as being in their interests.

If you do find a list anywhere, I’d be interested to know. I don’t have a VW - just a petrol ford focus, but I imagine that my data is being collected in much the same way as this.

I suspect as much.

Still, it would be nice to get a clear yes/no answer.

I am already certain that my car is one of those privacy nightmares as reported on by Mozilla, and it would be good to know how screwed I actually am.

As for why a car maker wouldn’t track the car and spy on the occupants, GDPR is a huge reason, I just hope that it gets used

Well yes - I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that legislation is our best hope here. Not in my country, mind you, where I guarantee you that all we will get is lip-service to privacy, data protection, etc.