Owners can talk to their cars, access systems using facial recognition, ask software to compose business memos and texts, and remotely turn on home central heating systems, all while plotting the best route to a destination through traffic. The car, meanwhile, can use sensors to monitor the owner for fatigue and driving style, uploading this data to central systems and multiple apps.
But this is only the start. Pretty soon, vehicles will continuously communicate with one another, the road infrastructure around them, and even with the smartphones carried by pedestrians. This represents a massive expansion in data and data communication that will hand a huge job to organizations trying to stay within current UK data protection and consent regulations, said the ICO.
“The proliferation of sensors in connected vehicles increases the risk of collecting excessive information beyond what is required for the stated purpose.,” the ICO said. “In particular, sensors may collect data in a continuous and automatic way with limited or no ability for the user to effectively opt out of collection.”
