Today’s vehicles can do just about anything — aside from driving themselves (yet). They can parallel park, monitor your blind spots, make phone calls, send text messages, and even give you massages. All of this additional automation means your car collects data on pretty much everything.

Cars soak up information on who you are, where you’ve been, your driving habits, and much more. Automakers claim to use this data for driver and vehicle safety and to enhance driving efficiency. But without laws or regulations monitoring in-car consumer privacy and what automakers do with your data, we are left to speculate.

To illustrate just how much your car could know about you and how it goes about collecting your data, we created the below infographic. It breaks down exactly what information you’re giving up, who is in control of that information, and how you can limit the possibility of your data falling into the wrong hands.

Although some of the information that your car is collecting may seem unnecessary, much of it is used to enhance safety – and this could be keeping you safe. Vehicles built from 1997 to 2002 have a fatal crash frequency of 42 percent, while vehicles made between 2013 and 2017 have a fatal crash frequency of 26 percent.

With features like blind spot monitoring, adaptive headlights, and automatic braking systems, new car tech is intended to keep the road safe. To stay as prepared as your car is, always practice defensive driving techniques and keep your insurance up-to-date.

Sources

New York Times | The Parallax | PC World | Daily Mail | Wall Street Journal