B.C. privacy association worried about cars connecting personal data

WATCH: Technology is tracking our every move these days and now as Jeremy Hunka reports, privacy advocates are concerned citizens are being watched in their cars.

Is your car spying on you?

It’s a worry for the BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association, which unveiled a report today on the data gathered by modern cars and the lack of regulations safeguarding drivers.

“There’s some big holes,” says Vincent Gogolek, FIP Executive Director. “There’s a lot of places where it doesn’t meet the legal requirements we have in the country.”

The report (which can be read here) was unveiled during the the Vancouver Auto Show. It documents the many ways communication-based technology and applications have improved in cars in the last decade, without changes to how vehicles themselves are regulated.

Gogolek said car manufacturers now have access to more information than ever, but the information they provide consumers on what they do with it is spotty.

“Depending on what you have, there’s a lot of information being slurped up and sent out. We’re not quite sure where,” he said.

The Canadian Automobile Association wants the companies that build cars to be fully open with what data is being gathered.

“Cars are becoming the new smartphone on wheels,” says Ian Jack, a CAA spokesperson. “Very soon, vehicles are going to be able to tell your weight…they’re going to match that with GPS, all information about the vehicle, that hasn’t been available before. And all of this is going to flow wirelessly out of your vehicle back to the manufacturer.”

The CAA has a number of recommendations, including establishing data protection regulations and involving privacy experts in the design state of vehicles.

“The dealerships, the manufacturers, have gone to great stakes to make sure that information isn’t being passed to third-party sources, and if it is, that the consumer knows about it upfront,” says Ryan Leverette with Key West Ford.

But Gogolek is unconvinced.

“They’re going beyond what they’re legally allowed to collect,” he said.

“That’s the way it looks to us.”