At the beginning of the emergence of the Internet, there were many free services. Companies that have created products and monetized them with advertising. Later came payment services and in the age of social networks we have seen how user data is itself a currency for many companies. Companies like Facebook have had to face huge fines for how they handled this data, but not for the fact that they collected it. Even in Europe there are movements that protect user data on WhatsApp.
In the new age of the Internet, that of artificial intelligence, data is even more valuable than before, because in addition to being able to be sold to companies interested in selling things to the users of the companies that collect them, they also serve to train these new algorithms that appear almost every day. This new reality has made companies in industries that until now haven’t been massively interested in their users’ data decide that the time is right.
The automotive industry is one of those that is changing the most, especially with the transition from the traditional car to the electric car, but above all to the connected car. Knowing where our car is at all times is a great advantage, in addition to being able to control it from the mobile, but it also implies that Much of the data generated when we drive ends up on the computers of the companies that made it.
From mobiles to cars
In recent years, privacy on the Internet, especially since the explosion of smartphones, has been a growing concern. Apple has even made it a differential element of its products, positioning the iPhone as the most private phone, which we even see in its television commercials.
In the automotive sector, the same practices are now beginning to be practiced as in the telecommunications sector a decade ago, maintaining the detail of the data of several users, from his way of driving to his behavior and the journeys made on a daily basis. This is easily transferable to company servers as most modern cars have a built-in SIM card for emergency calls and other functions, which can also be used by the company to collect other data.
Connected and autonomous vehicles.
Some of the data is understandable, such as license plate type, VIN or GPS position, if we have agreed to share this information so that it is possible for the help system when we have an accident at work . However, other data is much more personal, such as acceleration and speed, how you drive and brakeetc
How the data is used
All this information enables manufacturers to significantly improve their future services. The most well-known case is that of Tesla, which has its FSD software in beta stage, which allows some of its cars to drive alone in certain parts of the United States. What we also know is that all the sensor and camera information that is collected ends up on Tesla’s servers, where it is used to recycle its self-driving system to make it better in the future.
But there are simpler examples. The vehicle’s involuntary lane change system is able to know how often we press the steering wheel, to remind us not to let go even if the car is driving alone. This kind of the information is valuable not only to manufacturers, but also to government agencies when drafting new regulations.
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Car data can also be used to find out what kind of features the company’s future cars should havewhether it is better to bet on one type of vehicle or another, whether it is better to favor acceleration or autonomy or whether charging habits in the case of electric cars go in one direction or the other.
Sale of data?
This data remains in the possession of car manufacturers, who can use it to create new models, analyze the real preferences of their drivers and create better products, but they can also sell it. In certain economic sectors, the sale of data is itself the central element of the sales of certain companies and, although this has not yet reached the automotive sector, this may change in the future.
The simplest and most obvious example is that of insurers. There are already companies that reward you if you install an application on your mobile that monitors your driving, top speed, acceleration, changes of direction, etc. These insurers are convinced that this data will minimize the risk of accidents for their customers and, in return, they will be able to offer better policies.
Driver data is highly valued by insurers
In the case of car manufacturers, they can offer all this data to insurers on a massive scale, monitoring millions of vehicles. There are even car models that use facial scanning to change the driving profile of the driver, like some of Toyota, also being stored this information. Other brands, like Tesla, use the mobile phone to identify the different drivers of a vehicle.
In the years to come, we will see an increase in the collection of this data, greater concern among citizens about what is being done to them and greater vigilance by the authorities. Everything that is experienced first on the Internet, then on cell phones, will arrive sooner rather than later in cars.
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