Your car is watching you. Modern vehicles are equipped with dozens of sensors, microphones, and internet-connected systems that log your routes, speed, braking behavior, phone contacts, voice commands, location history, and even in-cabin conversations. An estimated 90% of new cars sold today collect driving behavior data, with some transmitting updates as frequently as every three seconds. Here is what your car knows about you and how to take back control of your driving privacy.
What Data Does Your Car Collect?
If you have purchased or leased a vehicle made in the last decade, it almost certainly contains a telematics system that collects and transmits data. The scope of this data collection is staggering:
- Location and routes -- GPS coordinates logged continuously, creating a complete record of every trip you take, every stop you make, and every address you visit
- Driving behavior -- speed, acceleration, braking force, cornering, seatbelt usage, and driving patterns
- Phone and contacts -- when you pair your phone via Bluetooth, many vehicles download your entire contact list, call history, and text messages
- Voice commands -- in-car voice assistants record and process your spoken commands, and some systems record ambient cabin audio
- Infotainment activity -- radio stations, media playback, navigation destinations, and app usage through the car's touchscreen
- Vehicle diagnostics -- engine performance, tire pressure, battery health, mileage, and maintenance status
- Camera footage -- vehicles with driver-monitoring cameras or dashcams may record video inside and outside the cabin
Your Car May Be Sharing Data With Brokers
Major manufacturers including GM, Honda, Kia, Subaru, Hyundai, and Ford have been found sharing detailed driving data with data brokers like LexisNexis and Verisk. This data is then packaged into consumer profiles and sold to insurance companies, which use it to adjust your premiums -- often without your knowledge or meaningful consent.
How Your Driving Data Is Used Against You
Insurance Premium Adjustments
The most immediate financial impact of vehicle data collection is on your car insurance. Insurance companies purchase driving behavior data from brokers and manufacturers to build risk profiles. Hard braking events, late-night driving, high-speed travel, and long commutes can all lead to higher premiums. Multiple reports have documented drivers seeing unexpected rate increases traced back to data their cars transmitted without their awareness.
Data Broker Profiles
Data brokers like LexisNexis and Verisk compile vehicle data into comprehensive consumer profiles that go far beyond driving behavior. Combined with other data sources, your vehicle data can reveal where you work, where you worship, what medical facilities you visit, where your children go to school, and who you spend time with. These profiles are sold to insurers, employers, landlords, and other entities that make decisions affecting your life.
Law Enforcement and Legal Discovery
Vehicle data has been used in criminal investigations, divorce proceedings, and civil lawsuits. While the Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Jones (2012) that attaching a GPS tracker to a vehicle constitutes a search requiring a warrant, this protection applies only to government actors. It does not restrict automakers from collecting location data or prevent law enforcement from obtaining that data from the manufacturer through a subpoena or court order.
The Legal Landscape
Consumer protection against vehicle data collection is still catching up to the technology. However, momentum is building:
- Virginia passed a bill in February 2026 that bans the sale of precise geolocation data -- a measure that could significantly impact how vehicle location data is commercialized
- California's CCPA/CPRA gives residents the right to know what data is collected and to opt out of its sale, which applies to data collected by connected vehicles
- Several other states with comprehensive privacy laws provide similar opt-out rights that extend to vehicle telematics data
At the federal level, there is no comprehensive law governing vehicle data privacy. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued voluntary guidelines, but automakers are not legally required to follow them.
How to Limit Vehicle Data Collection
Review Your Car's Privacy Settings
Most modern vehicles have privacy or connectivity settings accessible through the infotainment system. The location varies by manufacturer, but look under Settings, Connected Services, or Privacy:
- Disable location sharing if your navigation still works without it
- Turn off data sharing or usage-based data collection
- Opt out of "customer experience" or "product improvement" programs
- Disable Wi-Fi hotspot features you do not use
Opt Out of Manufacturer Data Sharing
Many car manufacturers now offer data opt-out programs, though they do not always make them easy to find:
- GM: Contact OnStar or visit the connected services portal to disable data collection and Smart Driver features
- Ford: Use the FordPass app or contact customer support to manage connected vehicle data sharing preferences
- Honda: Contact Honda customer service to opt out of data sharing with third parties
- Subaru: Review Starlink connected services settings and contact customer support for opt-out options
- Hyundai/Kia: Access Bluelink or Kia Connect settings to manage data preferences
- Toyota: Check the Toyota app or contact customer service about the Safety Connect and Service Connect data sharing options
Request Your Vehicle Data Report
Under state privacy laws like the CCPA, you have the right to request a copy of the data your car manufacturer has collected about you. Submit a data access request through the manufacturer's privacy portal or customer service. The results may surprise you -- many drivers have discovered their vehicles transmitted tens of thousands of data points without their knowledge.
Disable Connected Services You Do Not Use
Services like OnStar, Bluelink, Starlink, FordPass Connect, and Toyota Safety Connect provide convenience features like remote start and automatic crash notification. But they also serve as always-on data pipelines. If you do not actively use these services:
- Cancel the subscription to stop data transmission
- Contact the service provider to request data deletion
- Note that some vehicles continue to transmit basic telematics data even after canceling connected services -- ask specifically whether data collection stops entirely
Manage Bluetooth and Phone Connections
When you pair your phone with your car via Bluetooth, the vehicle may download your entire contact list, recent call history, and text messages:
- Before selling or returning a leased vehicle, delete all paired phones and perform a factory reset of the infotainment system
- Limit Bluetooth permissions on your phone -- some phones allow you to connect for audio only without sharing contacts
- Periodically clear the car's stored phone data through the infotainment system
- Avoid syncing contacts with rental cars
Be Cautious With In-Car Voice Assistants
Voice-activated systems in vehicles record and process your spoken commands. Some manufacturers send voice data to cloud servers for processing, where it may be stored and analyzed:
- Disable voice assistant features if you do not use them
- Check whether your manufacturer stores voice recordings and opt out if possible
- Use your phone's voice assistant instead of the car's built-in system, as phone assistants typically offer more privacy controls
Check What Data Brokers Already Have
Even if you lock down your vehicle's settings today, data that has already been shared with brokers does not disappear on its own. LexisNexis, Verisk, and other brokers may already have years of your driving data in their files. You can request your consumer disclosure report from these companies:
- LexisNexis: Request your C.L.U.E. (Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange) report and your consumer disclosure report
- Verisk: Request your A-PLUS (Automated Property Loss Underwriting System) report
These reports will show you what data has been compiled about your driving history and insurance claims.
Use PrivacyOn to Monitor and Remove Your Data
Vehicle data is just one piece of your overall data profile. Data brokers combine driving data with information from public records, social media, financial databases, and other sources to create comprehensive profiles. PrivacyOn removes your personal information from 100+ data broker sites, continuously monitors for re-listings, and includes dark web monitoring to alert you if your personal information surfaces in breach databases. By cleaning up your data broker profiles, you reduce the amount of personal information available to insurers, marketers, and anyone else who might use your vehicle data against you.
Your car should take you where you want to go -- not report every detail of your life to corporations you never agreed to share it with. By adjusting your vehicle's settings, opting out of manufacturer data sharing, and using PrivacyOn to clean up the data trail, you can reclaim your privacy on the road.