BMW: Companies Want Our Driver Data

Last week at CES, there were a lot of automotive related announcements. The latest and greatest in infotainment were unveiled. The clear message is vehicles are becoming more and more connected, however, what does that mean long term?

Vehicles will be more and more connected and to faster networks. Automakers, including GM, are looking to at 4G LTE Internet connections to their vehicles. With faster connections, there will be more options for consumers. There will also be a need to examine how safe the vehicle connection is. Or more specifically, how safe your data is.

A report out of Europe indicates that BMW has denied numerous requests from companies who want data from their vehicles. Ian Robertson, who has been a member of the Board of Management at BMW AG for over six years said BMW is working to protect its owners. At the Detroit Auto Show, Robertson said, “There’s plenty of people out there saying, ‘Give us all the data you’ve got and we can tell you what we can do with it’, and we’re saying, ‘No thank you.’ ” The types of data those companies want include location, speed, acceleration and possibly driver and passenger identities.

A report by the IrishTimes indicates BMW has a strong firewall in place to protect consumer data in its fleet of vehicles. Adam Jonas, an analyst at Morgan Stanley told IT that the protection is needed and no automaker wants to be the first to slip up. “Auto companies almost unanimously want to create a barrier on this information. They don’t want to be the first one to….have a car hacked with bad consequences and image.”

In an era when even the most technologically advanced vehicles are reportedly hackable (Tesla) the debate over consumer data protection behind the wheel seems to have just begun. The question is, can this turn into a business opportunity for someone providing data protection? Have any of your customers ever shown concern for the security of the onboard data?