Having data privacy laws are great. But if those laws can’t be practically enforced or your rights easily asserted, they’re not very useful. Modern cars are chock full of sensors, many of which are used to monitor the passengers and collect personal data. But cars are subject to privacy laws, too. Opting out of data collection or requesting data deletion should be straightforward. Andrea Amico and Merry Marwig from Privacy4Cars just completed a massive study on this, and the vast majority of auto brands had horrible user experiences for data management. They will share their findings with us on today’s show.

Interview Notes

• Privacy4Cars: https://privacy4cars.com/ 
• California UX whitepaper: https://privacy4cars.com/ux-california/ 
• Vehicle Privacy Report tool: https://vehicleprivacyreport.com/ 
• Company auto info: https://Privacy4Cars.com/CISO 
• GDPR auto info: https://Privacy4Cars.com/GDPR 
• Opt Out Code: https://optoutcode.com/
• IoT on Wheels talk: https://instituteofprivacydesign.org/2025/08/11/cars-iot-endpoints-on-wheels-privacy-engineering-technology-education-discussion-peted-recording/ 
• Data Diva car data graphic (slide 16): https://www.nist.gov/system/files/documents/2024/05/15/V3_2024_May_IoTAB%20%20-%20Monroney%20Sticker%20Presentation_Privacy_subteam_compressed%20508.pdf 
• IoT Advisory Board Report: https://www.nist.gov/system/files/documents/2024/10/21/The%20IoT%20of%20Things%20Oct%202024%20508%20FINAL_1.pdf 
• Enable Global Privacy Control: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/how-to-enable-global-privacy-control/ 

Further Info

• Annual Listener Survey!!! https://fdsd.me/survey2026 
• New Patron Promotion!! https://fdsd.me/promo126 
• My book: https://fdsd.me/book 
• My newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter 
• Support the mission: https://fdsd.me/support 
• Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons 
• Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch 

Table of Contents

• 0:00:14: Intro
• 0:01:06: Listener survey reminder
• 0:01:53: Patron promo reminder
• 0:02:30: Lingo definitions
• 0:03:14: What’s changed since our last talk?
• 0:08:15: What data do cars collect?
• 0:12:56: How could car data affect my insurance rates?
• 0:15:51: What was the purpose of your recent study?
• 0:23:01: How do authorized agents work?
• 0:28:01: How does Opt Out Code work?
• 0:33:21: What’s the response been to your report?
• 0:36:13: How do we make car data more obvious?
• 0:40:23: Does GDPR apply to cars?
• 0:45:17: What are some other cases to consider?
• 0:48:45: What’s the EU Data Act?
• 0:54:08: How do I limit my auto data sharing?
• 0:56:44: How remove car data before selling?
• 0:59:56: What’s next for you?
• 1:01:43: Wrap-up
• 1:03:25: Enable Global Privacy Control
• 1:05:24: Patron podcast preview
• 1:06:52: Looking ahead