[whynot]

Follow up article in Go Auto

https://www.goauto.com.au/news/gener...-15/94991.html

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According to auto industry sources, the issue is under discussion at manufacturer, dealer (and presumably government) levels as to what to do before potentially going down the legislative path.
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Several car manufacturers and importer representatives contacted by GoAuto – and wishing to remain nameless – said they did not engage in on-selling driver data and did not collect biometric information, claiming they used the data mostly for market research and advertising purposes.
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The Apple App Store discloses that MG’s iSmart iPhone app can collect location, contacts, user content, search history, identifiers, usage data and diagnostics information that may be linked to the owner of the device. Apple lists MG’s Chinese parent company SAIC Motor International as the developer of the iSmart app.
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Of the brands named in the Choice report, the second-biggest collector of owner-linked iPhone app data after MG appears to be Mazda, which the Apple App Store says can link location, contact, identifiers, usage data and diagnostic info to the device owner.
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A 2023 Sydney University report on data mining in new cars, which generate about 25 gigabytes of data per hour, highlighted the need to “shift our focus towards the automobile industry which has so far escaped the scrutiny faced by technology giants, despite the significant threats to personal privacy it poses”.

“For Australians, the implications are profound and immediate. Given our robust car market, many of us are unwittingly ensnared in this web of data-collection, our personal details, driving patterns, and other private information, splayed open for corporate consumption.”
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With such a focus on profitability, not a lot of expectation on the self-regulating front exists as it has the potential to reduce or eliminate a lucrative and largely unseen profit centre.

Comment: No surprise that a Chinese company (i.e. MG) is harvesting as much information from your phone as possible. They are certainly into being willing servants of extending the reach of the Chinese Communist Party. And all of this information goes into their data lake.

But I am surprised that Mazda are second on the list. Not sure what is causing that behaviour.