I remember, back in 2012, at Ford's Innovation Centre in Aachen, sitting in a seat they were developing that would monitor my heart rate and other cardiac details,
writes Brian Byrne. Effectively, a constant ECG while driving. The idea was that it would fit into a system which would carefully guide the car to a safe place should I indicate symptoms of a heart attack. It felt a little bit science fiction, but was evidently doable. At the time, I did also wonder about medical privacy, but pushed the concern aside on the basis that the information would probably remain within the car's own system.
Less than a decade and a half on, I don't know if the cars I drive are checking my heart, but they are certainly gathering a lot of other information about me. And it's probably not staying inside the car. The shiny new motor you drive off the sales lot today is a rolling data centre, with sensors that note an occupant's weight in order to switch on the ignition, are aware if you're holding the wheel, how hard you are on the accelerator and brakes, and can even see if you pick your nose. It's only a half-joke when I sometimes start up a Chinese car with its interior camera watching and call: "Good morning, Beijing!" I could just as easily be saluting the monitors in Seoul or Gothenburg or Munich, Rome, Paris, or Madrid.
Most new cars today are in direct communication with their manufacturers, for over-the-air software upgrades via the vehicle's own internet connection. That's a two-way connection, with the car potentially capable of sending gigabytes of data back about its status, and about you and your driving habits. In the US, where data privacy laws are not as strong as in Europe, some carmakers earn revenue by selling that data on to various entities, including insurance companies — which could enable them to assess the risks of individual drivers if they want.
Then there are navigation systems, which help us all to get to where we want to be, even warning us of traffic issues and incidents, often offering alternative routes to avoid them. They build up reports of where speed cameras are typically located. Drivers can even insert in real-time where there is a police presence, or a crash. But remember that two-way 'data street'? They also log where we have been, how long we were there, and frequent destinations. All of which can be retained in the system, potentially accessible by diagnostics, by law enforcement with a warrant, probably by the car manufacturer remotely through their over-the-air update systems. Even without the car's own systems, when we hook up our personal phones via Bluetooth, we make available all our contacts, our call logs, text messages, even our media preferences. There's potential access to our personal profiles on various apps, which in many cases will have payment information, encrypted but potentially hackable.
The Advanced Driver Assistance System features which beep and chirp at us and which many turn off before setting out on a journey also leave their data trail. I once asked a distributor if that data could be used after a crash, by insurance investigators, to reduce payouts if the driver had switched off any part of the system. He said no. I flat out didn't believe him. Not that I thought he was lying, just that he didn't know.
About those in-car cameras: as of this month, July 2026, the latest iteration of the EU’s General Safety Regulation means that all new cars sold in Europe must be equipped with them, bringing local manufacturers into the same regime as we already experience with Asian cars. The EU regulation specifically dictates that the video feed is processed in the car in a closed-loop system and destroyed immediately afterwards. The rules also forbid the use of the cameras for expanded surveillance, commercial profiling, or law enforcement non-warrant 'fishing' expeditions, but the electronic facility is there for bypassing any regulation. By the way, the in-car camera works on infrared, so it can see you in the dark.
Can you mitigate this data transfer in any way? Yes, to an extent, and depending on what levels of connectivity are important to you. You can change the settings in your vehicle's system to turn off data sharing, connected services, and analytics. This can mean losing features like emergency SOS calling, over-the-air updates, and built-in remote start. You can also delete the carmaker's companion smartphone apps such as FordPass, MyToyota, and Kia Connect. The full paranoia and techie heads can physically remove the fuse handling the car's telematics, or even unplug the Telematics Control Unit, if they can find it. Be aware that at this level you are probably invalidating at least some level of warranty, if not all.
Recalling what I said about technology guiding a car to a stop in a safe location, in an emergency, that technical ability is already available through the Level 2 autonomous driving systems in most new cars, which include active cruise control and automatic lane-changing. Many connected systems already allow a manufacturer, or someone mandated by them, to 'reach into' a car and immobilise it, say, if it has been stolen. Big Brother is not just watching you, but from the moment you blip your car open before driving away in the morning, he's amassing data on much of your daily life, and has the ability to directly affect it.
All that said, technology advances mean that we gain a great deal in convenience, safety, and innovation in all parts of our modern lives, including driving our cars. It's really a matter of balancing both sides of the scales, depending on our expectations and needs, our own privacy, and the common good.
I had my annual ECG at my doctor's clinic the other week. I'm fine, Mr Ford. Thank you, but I don't need your cardiac monitor seat.
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