Ford pledges not to sell customers' driving data to data brokers

US automaker Ford has publicly committed to never selling customer driving data to third-party data brokers, companies that collect and resell personal information. The pledge is part of a new privacy promise meant to set Ford apart from rivals that have faced legal and regulatory pushback for sharing telematics data without authorization. It matters to drivers because modern cars gather details about location and driving behavior.

What Ford promises

The company says it will try to protect customer data through aggregation and anonymization and will provide clear, understandable information on how personal data is used. Ford will still use data to improve safety, but customers will be able to adjust how much data they share. Kristin Jones, Ford's chief privacy officer, wrote in a company blog post that trust has to be earned and that protecting personal information is one way to earn it.

Earlier cases in the industry

The pledge follows General Motors (GM) agreeing to pay $220 million to settle claims that it illegally sold driver and location data to brokers. The deal requires GM to limit the driving data it collects and obtain express consent from drivers.

Other manufacturers have drawn scrutiny too. An examination of 21 vehicle brands found that every one sent data to at least one third-party domain over Wi-Fi, and more than half contacted advertising, tracking or analytics companies. Mozilla, a global nonprofit, called connected cars the worst product category for privacy it has reviewed: 92% of automakers give drivers little or no control over their data, and 84% share it with outside parties.

Ford surveyed more than 1,000 US customers. Over half said they understand some data sharing is acceptable, while 41% were extremely or very concerned about data privacy in the auto industry.

Limits of the promise

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can step in if a company breaks a public promise, and it can sue, require legally binding agreements and impose substantial fines. However, a blog post is not a legal contract. The binding rules are in Ford's privacy policy and connected vehicle terms, which contain standard exceptions such as police requests or outside service providers. Opting out of data sharing can also disable features such as built-in navigation, remote start and wireless software updates.