Connected Vehicles and Your Privacy
Connected vehicles communicate wirelessly with other vehicles and our roads,
sharing important safety and mobility information and generating new data about
how, when, and where vehicles travel. The unprecedented level of data generated
will be the basis for a multitude of innovative applications that can help prevent
crashes and save lives, improve mobility, and enhance our overall livability. However,
this information sharing among and data collection from your vehicles have led to
concerns about personal privacy.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) is committed to ensuring that
connected vehicle technology preserves personal privacy and the system protects
against unauthorized access. The vehicle information communicated does not
identify the driver or vehicle, and technical controls have been put in place to help
prevent vehicle tracking and tampering with the system.
Connected Vehicle Overview
Connected vehicles use secure wireless technology to communicate with other
vehicles of all types; advanced roadside infrastructure such as traffic signals, work
zones, toll booths, and school zones; and personal mobile devices—sharing
information about their position, speed, brake status, and more. This communication
enables the vehicles to sense the environment around them and issue warnings and
recommendations to drivers accordingly. For example, apps could warn drivers of
impending collisions, icy roads, dangerous curves, and long queues ahead—before
the drivers are aware of them.
The vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications will
enable safety, mobility, and environmental advancements that current technologies
are unable to provide. The technology is expected to reduce unimpaired vehicle
crashes by 80 percent, while also reducing the 6.9 billion hours Americans spend
in traffic annually.
The USDOT has been researching and testing this system of communicating vehicles
for over a decade. The connected vehicle environment that is being researched
is based on dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), which is a wireless
technology that has more security and privacy protections than traditional Wi-Fi.
Privacy Up Front
The V2V system that the Department has been developing,
along with several research partners, is designed with privacy
in mind. No personal vehicle identification will be collected,
broadcasted, or shared. The Department is pursuing the
deployment of connected vehicle technologies in a manner
that protects consumers from unwarranted privacy risks and
safeguards the system from unauthorized access.
Facts about Privacy and the Connected Vehicle System
V2V technologies do not pose a significant threat to privacy and
have been designed to help protect against vehicle tracking:
- The V2V system will not collect or store any personally
identifiable information about individuals or vehicles.
- The safety messages exchanged by vehicles cannot be used
by law enforcement or private entities to identify a speeding
or erratic driver.
- The V2V system will not permit tracking through space or
time of specific owners, drivers, or passengers.
- Third parties attempting to use the V2V system to track a
vehicle would find it extremely difficult to do so, particularly
in light of simpler and cheaper means available for that
purpose.
- The V2V system will not collect financial information, personal
communications, or personally identifiable information about
individuals or vehicles. It will enroll V2V-enabled vehicles
automatically, without collecting any information identifying
specific vehicles or owners.
- The V2V system will not provide a “pipe” into the vehicle
for extracting data. It will enable the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and motor vehicle
manufacturers to find lots or production runs of potentially
defective V2V equipment without use of VIN numbers or
other information that could identify specific drivers or
vehicles.
As designed, the Department is confident that the connected
vehicle system will both achieve the agency’s safety goals and
protect consumer privacy appropriately.
How to Preserve Privacy in a Connected Vehicle Environment?
Physical Controls: Physical protection around equipment
such as tamper-proof casings
Technical Controls: Technologies designed to protect data,
such as firewalls, access management, and encryption
Administrative Controls:
-
Laws and regulations regarding unauthorized collection,
storage, and disclosure of data
• Fair Information Practice Principles
Connected vehicle safety applications
require that the wireless devices in
motor vehicles send and receive a
basic safety message (BSM) containing
information about vehicle position,
heading, speed, and more relating
to vehicle state and predicted path.
The BSM, however, contains no
personally identifying information
(PII) and is broadcast in a very limited
geographical range, typically less than
1 kilometer. Nearby motor vehicles
will only use that information to warn
drivers of crash-imminent situations.
For more information about this initiative, contact:
Claire W. Barrett
Chief Privacy Officer USDOT
(202) 366-8135
privacy@dot.gov