Honda was Accused of illegally Requesting Personal Information When Customers Exercised Privacy Rights
A car manufacturer has finally been called out for its data collection practices by a regulator after California’s top privacy agency settled allegations that Honda failed to disclose data agreements with third parties, and requested more personal information than necessary when people tried to exercise their privacy rights with the company.
Honda must now pay a fine of $632,500 to resolve allegations by the California Privacy Protection Agency that the company violated the California Consumer Privacy Act, and made it unfair for people to exercise their privacy rights, among other things. According to the agreement, Honda required information such as people’s phone numbers and addresses when they told the company not to share or sell their data. The agency has warned the public before about companies illegally overstepping with regard to the type and amount of personal information required in order to honor people’s privacy rights.
“Although Honda generally needs only two data points from the consumer to identify the consumer within its database, Honda’s verification process for Verifiable Consumer Requests requires the matching of more than two data points,” reads the stipulation. “Thus, Honda requires more information than necessary.”
Honda also was accused of sharing consumers’ personal information with ad tech companies without producing contracts containing the necessary terms to protect privacy.
“Despite collecting, selling, sharing, and disclosing personal information with these advertising technology companies, Honda could not produce contracts with these advertising technology companies. Honda’s failure to implement these safeguards has unnecessarily placed consumers’ personal information at risk.”
The violations and fine aren’t anything major, but it is the first time the privacy agency has brought an enforcement against an automaker regarding the industry’s vast data collection practices. By doing so, it is spotlighting an issue that has long deserved more attention from government regulators. Data forms the foundation of modern cars. Cars are like rolling iPhones, spying on us and vacuuming up tons of information along the way.
In 2022, Consumer Watchdog released a report detailing how major auto manufacturers have collected and shared a galaxy of personal information, from when you brake or roll down your window to how much you weigh and your brand preferences. Personal data information is shared with insurance companies, and federal agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. Read the Report, Connected Cars and the Threat to Your Privacy.
The privacy agency announced its review of connected cars a year and a half ago. Will there be more to come?
