The more tech creeps into our lives, the less privacy we seem to have. What started with smart speakers and voice assistants has now moved into our cars. Automakers are pushing automotive subscription services for basic features like heated seats, accident cameras, even hands-free driving. But the bigger issue isn’t the extra cost. It’s that all this tech turns your car into a rolling surveillance device that’s always connected and constantly collecting data.
We are talking about car surveillance and non-stop data collection: where you go, how often, what you say while driving. That data doesn’t just sit there. It gets logged, stored, and in many cases, shared with law enforcement if requested without your knowledge or consent, raising serious vehicle data privacy concerns.
Car Subscriptions Are Not Just About Features -They Are About Data
Automakers claim these connected vehicle features are for convenience and customization. But they rely on heavy internet connectivity, which means your car is always online. That opens the door for constant car tracking technology and third-party access to your behavior behind the wheel.
Police can track vehicles using location pings or broad and tower dumps that scoop up data from every device near a crime scene. This is something that increases concerns around car location tracking by police.
Some car brands like GM with OnStar, transmit data far more often than others, if you have an active subscription. These systems are marketed for safety but often double as data collection tools.
In many cases, you are not even told if police request your data. Only Tesla has a policy to notify users when that happens, making Tesla data privacy a rare example of transparency.
It’s not just law enforcement. Automakers and their ISP partners can and often do sell or share this data with third parties for advertising or analytics; turning your driving habits into a commodity.
This Isn’t Just About Cars
We have seen this play out across every tech driven industry. Smart TVs track what you watch and for how long. Xbox once pitched a feature that scanned your room to see what products you owned. RFID chips on everyday items can quietly communicate with nearby devices to verify what’s in your home. Even your phone mic is always listening; watch when you speak about something and see how fast related ads show up.
All this tracking is sold to us as personalization. But let’s be honest: it’s about targeting. The more they know about your habits, your schedule, your location, the easier it is to sell you something. It’s the same invasive pattern, just under different names, like smart car privacy or connected lifestyle convenience.
Convenience vs. Surveillance: Where’s the Line?
We are told this tech is for our benefit but often it’s not. Features are no longer standard; they are gated behind paywalls.
Products aren’t getting better. They are getting more invasive. Being online isn’t optional. It’s required, even for basic functionality, especially with internet-connected vehicles and cloud-based services embedded in the driving experience.
Take video gaming again as an example. In the past you were able to buy a game, play it offline, and be done. Now you are forced online constantly, not just to play but so they can track how you play, upsell you on new features or decide which content to push next.
None of this is improving the user experience. If anything, it’s making it worse whether you are on a console or behind the wheel of a data-harvesting vehicle.
The Real Product Isn’t the Car: It’s You
Users were told that tech would make cars smarter, safer, and more efficient. But look closely; it’s not innovation driving the industry, it’s data extraction.
Basic features now come with fees. Software updates masquerade as improvements but mostly exist to collect more info. Instead of building better vehicles, automakers are building better ways to monitor and monetize drivers.
If progress means trading control for convenience and ownership for a login, maybe it’s time to ask who this is really for, because real innovation isn’t in the tech; it’s in how effectively they have turned drivers into data streams