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Ford Puts a Promise Not to Sell Your Driving Data on the Features List
· New York time
Ford says it will never sell customer driving data to third-party data brokers, part of a privacy promise intended to distinguish it from competitors. Some automakers have faced legal and regulatory scrutiny over sharing telematics data with brokers without authorization. Telematics can reveal details about how a vehicle is driven. That makes the information useful to businesses, but also makes the question of who receives it important to the person behind the wheel. Ford's pledge addresses sales to third-party brokers, a specific commitment about a particular use of that data. The promise is notable because it treats restraint as something worth advertising. Automakers increasingly build vehicles that can collect information as they travel, so a company can market not just what the car knows but what it says it will not do with that knowledge. The showroom pitch has acquired an unusual extra line. Alongside horsepower, comfort and cargo space, buyers can consider a promise about the afterlife of their driving habits. The car may know the route to the grocery store, but Ford says a data broker will not be buying that itinerary from it. Privacy has become a feature customers can compare without taking a test drive. The most interesting item on the window sticker may be the transaction the company says it will never make.
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