Please make Scout the 'privacy brand'.

[jayg]

Most car companies collect a lot of data on owners, and owners (as well as passengers!) have little to no control over whether that happens, or what is done with their data. As someone who highly values my privacy, I propose $subject as an additional way Scout can differentiate itself from the pack. I don't think I am alone in my desire to be able to choose what data I share, and approve or deny requests for how to use this data. I can do this already on my phone, and there is no reason I should not have the same control with my vehicle. The Mozilla Foundation did a research report on this a while ago, here is an article from Ars Technica summarizing (and linking to) it. I read another more recent story about Subaru collecting and storing location data for a sample vehicle the writer used for testing for a full year! This data showed the location of the car over time, and could be used to get the location at any time, by any employee. The writer fairly trivially (he was a security researcher) was able to get into the system, meaning a bad actor could do the same. This is not only a security issue, but something that should never have been allowed in the first place. I can understand having location data (much more tightly secured) for a very limited time. This could be useful if, for instance, someone went missing, and for some reason didn't have their phone. However, this is not something that should be retained long term. My data is mine, not the property of the company who I bought the vehicle from. Scout, please come out strongly on the side of users owning their data, and having choice in how that data is used. This would be a major selling point for me.

 

[AlanL]

Welcome!

Scott Keogh made a point of this in the October reveal. Scout will not share customer data, ...

 

[cyure]

Most car companies collect a lot of data on owners, and owners (as well as passengers!) have little to no control over whether that happens, or what is done with their data. As someone who highly values my privacy, I propose $subject as an additional way Scout can differentiate itself from the pack. I don't think I am alone in my desire to be able to choose what data I share, and approve or deny requests for how to use this data. I can do this already on my phone, and there is no reason I should not have the same control with my vehicle. The Mozilla Foundation did a research report on this a while ago, here is an article from Ars Technica summarizing (and linking to) it. I read another more recent story about Subaru collecting and storing location data for a sample vehicle the writer used for testing for a full year! This data showed the location of the car over time, and could be used to get the location at any time, by any employee. The writer fairly trivially (he was a security researcher) was able to get into the system, meaning a bad actor could do the same. This is not only a security issue, but something that should never have been allowed in the first place. I can understand having location data (much more tightly secured) for a very limited time. This could be useful if, for instance, someone went missing, and for some reason didn't have their phone. However, this is not something that should be retained long term. My data is mine, not the property of the company who I bought the vehicle from. Scout, please come out strongly on the side of users owning their data, and having choice in how that data is used. This would be a major selling point for me.

Welcome to the community. Yes Scott said at the reveal something like their customers will never be the product and they won’t sell our data.

 

[jayg]

Thank you for the welcomes. I'll have to go find the reveal and re-watch it to see exactly what was said. Not selling customer data is an important part of what I was trying to say, but not all of it. The other parts are:
- what is collected?
- how is it stored and protected?
- for how long?
- what options do I have to request it _not_ be stored?
- Is there a fine-grained way to opt in or out of specific types of data being collected, or limit how that data is used (by scout, even if it is not being sold)
- Even if it is not _sold_, is it _shared? To whom?

So, I am pleased with the overall 'the customer is not the product', but I would like to see more about the details mentioned above. If this is already available somewhere, and I just haven't seen it yet, please feel free to point me at the correct place to look!

 

[R1TVT]

i'm sure all of that will be revealed over time... But closer to the conversion point from reservation to ORDER. Lots of details still to come.

 

[dreamweaver]

Most car companies collect a lot of data on owners, and owners (as well as passengers!) have little to no control over whether that happens, or what is done with their data. As someone who highly values my privacy, I propose $subject as an additional way Scout can differentiate itself from the pack. I don't think I am alone in my desire to be able to choose what data I share, and approve or deny requests for how to use this data. I can do this already on my phone, and there is no reason I should not have the same control with my vehicle. The Mozilla Foundation did a research report on this a while ago, here is an article from Ars Technica summarizing (and linking to) it. I read another more recent story about Subaru collecting and storing location data for a sample vehicle the writer used for testing for a full year! This data showed the location of the car over time, and could be used to get the location at any time, by any employee. The writer fairly trivially (he was a security researcher) was able to get into the system, meaning a bad actor could do the same. This is not only a security issue, but something that should never have been allowed in the first place. I can understand having location data (much more tightly secured) for a very limited time. This could be useful if, for instance, someone went missing, and for some reason didn't have their phone. However, this is not something that should be retained long term. My data is mine, not the property of the company who I bought the vehicle from. Scout, please come out strongly on the side of users owning their data, and having choice in how that data is used. This would be a major selling point for me.

Scout. “People. Connections. Community. Authenticity." Welcome to the Scout community. Enjoy the ride.

 

[J Alynn]

Thank you for the welcomes. I'll have to go find the reveal and re-watch it to see exactly what was said. Not selling customer data is an important part of what I was trying to say, but not all of it. The other parts are:
- what is collected?
- how is it stored and protected?
- for how long?
- what options do I have to request it _not_ be stored?
- Is there a fine-grained way to opt in or out of specific types of data being collected, or limit how that data is used (by scout, even if it is not being sold)
- Even if it is not _sold_, is it _shared? To whom?

So, I am pleased with the overall 'the customer is not the product', but I would like to see more about the details mentioned above. If this is already available somewhere, and I just haven't seen it yet, please feel free to point me at the correct place to look!

Welcome to the forum and your secret life in witness protection is safe with us

 

[ThFocus]

Most car companies collect a lot of data on owners, and owners (as well as passengers!) have little to no control over whether that happens, or what is done with their data. As someone who highly values my privacy, I propose $subject as an additional way Scout can differentiate itself from the pack. I don't think I am alone in my desire to be able to choose what data I share, and approve or deny requests for how to use this data. I can do this already on my phone, and there is no reason I should not have the same control with my vehicle. The Mozilla Foundation did a research report on this a while ago, here is an article from Ars Technica summarizing (and linking to) it. I read another more recent story about Subaru collecting and storing location data for a sample vehicle the writer used for testing for a full year! This data showed the location of the car over time, and could be used to get the location at any time, by any employee. The writer fairly trivially (he was a security researcher) was able to get into the system, meaning a bad actor could do the same. This is not only a security issue, but something that should never have been allowed in the first place. I can understand having location data (much more tightly secured) for a very limited time. This could be useful if, for instance, someone went missing, and for some reason didn't have their phone. However, this is not something that should be retained long term. My data is mine, not the property of the company who I bought the vehicle from. Scout, please come out strongly on the side of users owning their data, and having choice in how that data is used. This would be a major selling point for me.

Your points make sense, but you're taking about two different things: First, Activities that are allowed by law or not prohibited by law (kinda grey area) such as collecting and selling customer data in many businesses. Phone companies do this left and right. Second, building a robuts & secure system expected of a connected vehicle (with OTA updates, etc). I second your pro-consumer and pro-privacy stance on both. But the second category really is very much expected by default.