Your car is a privacy nightmare on wheels

January 17, 2026

By Kim Komando

I love cars, the designs, the power, the history. I have a Porsche that knows everything I do, where I drive, how fast I take corners, probably my to-go order. I also have a 1946 Chevy truck with a gas gauge I have to flick with my fingers to get it to register.

When I forgot to lock my car before a hike on Camelback Mountain the other day, I opened the app halfway up the trail and locked it remotely. I’ll admit, that was slick. Still, there’s a trade-off most people don’t realize they’re making.

🚗 GM got busted

The FTC recently slapped General Motors with a settlement for selling driving data from millions of vehicles without proper consent. OnStar was sharing your location, acceleration and braking habits with insurance companies that used it to raise your rates. Drivers had no idea until their premiums spiked.

GM is now banned from sharing this data for five years. But they’re not the only ones collecting and selling it.

📊 What your car actually knows

Mozilla reviewed 25 major car brands, and every single one failed basic privacy expectations. They called cars “the worst product category we have ever reviewed.”

Your car may be logging your home address, contacts, garage door codes and voice commands. Layer AI on top, and it learns your patterns. Late-night drives. Medical appointments. Weekend routines.

Treat your car like an old laptop. Wipe it.

✅ My step-by-step guide tells you where to look in your car to delete your data and what apps you need to use to finish the job. Also, on this page be sure to get your Vehicle Privacy Report that shows all the data your car’s make and model is collecting and selling. 

🤔 Why this matters

Because you might be trading in that car this weekend. Or renting one. Every trip gets logged. Every connection stays stored. And unlike on your phone, you probably never thought to check the privacy settings. Now you will.

Phew, after all that, you need a smile. Why are rental cars so depressed all the time? Because they’re loners. (I saw that, and it made my day!)

📲 Share the knowledge: Know someone about to sell or trade their car? Forward this, so they don’t accidentally hand over their entire location history with the keys.