Privacy4Cars, a privacy-tech company focused on solving privacy challenges posed by vehicle data, announced in a press release it has introduced a groundbreaking new tool, Privacy4Cars’ Vehicle Privacy Report.
Consumers can quickly see key privacy facts about a vehicle, including Personal Information (PI) the manufacturer collects, shares and sells, with the simple entry of a vehicle’s VIN. It is available now, exclusively at vehicleprivacyreport.com.
“Consumers don’t realize that when they purchase a vehicle they also agree to have their PI collected, shared and sold — and potentially left behind and leaked unless proper safeguards are put in place,” said Andrea Amico, Privacy4Cars founder and CEO. “Unfortunately, until today, trying to understand what owners, renters and passengers are agreeing to required hours to research and read complex legal documents. We realized this was a massive transparency challenge for both consumers who are unable to factor privacy into their purchasing decisions, and also for auto businesses who lack a simple way to disclose to their customers those data agreements that nowadays are an integral part of buying, renting, financing and insuring a vehicle.”
During its research, Privacy4Cars found that it would take general consumers two and a half hours to read through all material(s) necessary to understand the privacy policies and terms of the average automaker: far longer than for most “big tech” companies. Further concerning, when Privacy4Cars sent consumers to “mystery shop” at over 150 dealerships between 2020 and 2023, it found that less than 5% of salespeople correctly represented that cars collect PI and that manufacturers have the rights to share and sell this PI. And no dealership was able to explain the data differences between two different vehicles mystery shoppers were test driving. From this, the idea for its Vehicle Privacy Report tool was born.
Each Vehicle Privacy Report includes two key pieces of information: the Vehicle Privacy Label, which is a set of 10 standardized clickable icons that synthesize the data collection, sharing and selling practices of vehicle manufacturers, per their public documents, and the Vehicle Privacy History, which lists known actions businesses have taken to protect the privacy of their customers.
Generating a Vehicle Privacy Report is easy and free*. Visit vehicleprivacyreport.com and input the vehicle’s VIN in the search bar. Within seconds, a report will be generated outlining what personal information the vehicle manufacturer discloses it collects, including identifiers, biometric data, geolocation, data from synched phones and user profiles. It also outlines their disclosures on who they share that information with and/or sell it to, including affiliates, service providers, insurance companies, government agencies and data brokers. There will also be a log of the recorded deletion of personal information on the vehicle. It also sources and cites the materials the manufacturer publishes, alongside the number of minutes it would take a general consumer to read through all related privacy policies and terms themselves and the level of education needed to proficiently read those documents.
For auto dealers, the Vehicle Privacy Report tool can be embedded into their sales sites to help fairly communicate the data practices of auto companies for each specific vehicle on their lot. Those “Privacy Care” dealerships will be able to automatically populate VIN-specific badges and information on their websites’ Vehicle Detail Pages, offering dealerships a new avenue to increase VDP engagement, build consumer trust and limit risk of Unfair and Deceptive Practices accusations.
“Privacy is the new safety,” continued Amico. “Our hope is that Privacy4Cars’ Vehicle Privacy Report will make privacy tangible and valuable for consumers, through use of our transparent disclosures preventing market distortions and incentivizing companies to improve their practices and distinguish themselves from the competition when they build, sell, buy, rent, loan, finance and insure vehicles. We’re confident that our new Vehicle Privacy Report is a move in the right direction for the rapidly digitizing auto industry.”
* Privacy4Cars plans to always offer its Vehicle Privacy Report for free to consumers. Until the burden no longer falls primarily on consumers to proactively delete their personal information from vehicles, the brand will continue to give complimentary use of its tool. Businesses looking to utilize the service for their own vehicles will receive a free 30-day trial during the launch period.
