Posted on 09/02/2016 9:26:00 AM PDT by MarchonDC09122009
Rental Cars Can Steal Phone Data Like Contacts and Text Messages
http://fortune.com/2016/09/01/rental-cars-data-theft/
Tech Internet of Things Watch Out That Your Rental Car Doesn't Steal Your Phone Data
By: Jeff John Roberts
September 1, 2016, 10:51 AM
Watch out how you connect to cars.
Here’s something to think about the next time you plug your phone into a rental car: The vehicle may be slurping up and recording all sorts of data, including your location, personal contacts, and even your text messages and web browsing.
That warning comes via a Federal Trade Commission blog post this week, which highlights a downside of so-called “connected cars.” The gist of it is that, today, a strange car is just like a strange computer, and consumers should be careful how them connect to them.
A blog post written by an FTC staff attorney describes how rental cars can not only access and record your cell phone data, but hold on to it for an indefinite period. The risk is obvious.
“Unless you delete that data before you return the car, other people may view it, including future renters and rental car employees or even hackers,” explains the post.
To reduce the risk, the FTC recommends consumers avoid using rentals cars’ USB ports to charge their phones, and rely on the cigarette lighter as a charging device instead. But while this is a nice suggestion, it may not be very practical because some cars don’t have a lighter port. Furthermore, many people don’t own the necessary adapter—meaning it’s much more likely they will just use their phone charger to plug into the USB port.
The FTC also recommends checking out the permissions setting on a car’s infotainment system, and granting access only to your phone’s music but not its contact list. The agency also recommends deleting any data from the system before returning the rental car.
The latter ideas are good ones but still beg the question: Why can rental cars collect such information in the first place? If there was ever a case for lawmakers to mandate privacy-by-design, this seems like an obvious case: Congress or state attorneys general should simply forbid car rental agencies (or the phone carriers they partner with) from collecting phone data in the first place.
I reached out to the FTC to get more information about who exactly is collecting this day and why. I’ll update with more details if I hear back.
This new concern over data theft comes as the auto industry frets over other connected car vulnerabilities, including hackers taking control of vehicles.
This is why I never pair my phone with a rental. Any calls I need to make or receive can wait.
bttt
Agreed that all of us are the product. We should all be paid by F_Book, Google etc every time they sell or use our data.
That is the best way to get our privacy back.
Original article:
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/what-your-phone-telling-your-rental-car
What is your phone telling your rental car?
August 30, 2016
by Lisa Weintraub Schifferle
Attorney, FTC, Division of Consumer & Business Education
When I rent a car, it’s fun to get all the bells and whistles – like navigation, hands-free calls and texts, streaming music and even web browsing. But did you know that cars with these features might keep your personal information, long after you’ve returned your rental car? Here are some things to keep in mind when renting a connected car.
What happens when you rent a connected car? When you use the car’s infotainment system, it may store personal information. It may keep locations you entered in GPS or visited when travelling in the rental car – like where you work or live.
If you connect a mobile device, the car may also keep your mobile phone number, call and message logs, or even contacts and text messages. Unless you delete that data before you return the car, other people may view it, including future renters and rental car employees or even hackers.
If you decide to rent a connected car, here are some steps you can take to protect your personal information:
Avoid connecting your mobile phones or devices to the infotainment system just for charging. It’s safer to use a cigarette lighter adapter to charge devices, instead of the car’s USB port. Why? In some cases, the USB connection may transfer data automatically.
Check your permissions. If you do connect your device to the car, the infotainment system may present a screen that lets you specify which types of information you want the system to access. Grant access only to the information you think is necessary – if you just want to play music, for example, you don’t need to okay access to your contacts.
Delete your data from the infotainment system before returning the car. Go into the infotainment system’s settings menu to find a list of devices that have been paired with the system. Locate your device and follow the prompts to delete it. The owner’s manual and the rental car company may have more information about how to delete your data.
A rental car stole my girlfriend.
Isn’t HACKING CELL PHONE DATA ILLEGAL??? Has anyone been ARRESTED?? Have These Companies been SHUT DOWN for HACKING CELL PHONE DATA???
WHY NOT???
Ping.
It won’t just do it randomly. You need to go through the car’s system and manually have it recognize your phone, which I would never do anyway.
Ping
It’s not hacking. Rental cars, like non-rental cars, can couple with your phone. In the process of doing that they tend to store a lot of data. That’s the design. If you VOLUNTARILY couple your phone know that you’re leaving a lot of data behind unless you go through the steps to delete it. Or don’t couple your phone.
Of course it will. Do not Bluetooth to anything you don’t own.
Jeez.
We rented a car at SeaTac while traveling over Christmas. It had an odd boxey little thing mounted mid-dash. There was a GPS screen and what appeared to be other functions (that we left unexplored). The gadget was really kind of in the way.
There also appeared to be a camera lens. We promptly taped that over with a bandaid.
If I remember correctly, I did hookup my phone thru Bluetooth to play thru the sound system. It didn’t work very well...very slow...probably because I had several hundred CDs on the microSD card.
Oh well. I guess all my data are theirs now.
FAILURE TO WARN is a Civil Tort, and they should be able to be SUED OUT OF BUSINESS!!!
The headline is amisleading. The rental car doesn’t “steal” phone data. If you like your phone to the rental car’s system, it copies it. Solution — don’t link your phone to the rental car’s system.
I was at a track day at Laguna Seca Raceway not long ago. There was another participant who was driving a rented Corvette from Hertz. Just wonder if Hertz was able to get his lap times? Corner to corner speeds?
yes it is
Another potential vulnerability with this is riding as a passenger in a car for hire...ie, cab, Uber, etc....
SUVs must be relieved that rental cars have knocked them down a notch in the autonomously acting evil automobile sweepstakes.
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