At CES 2017, wearing complexity as a badge of honor, Mark Fields (Ford Motor Company CEO) told a room full of tech analysts and reporters that the onboard computers in a Ford GT 25 were running 10 million lines of code – more than Lockheed used in an F-35 fighter jet. He proudly announced that all Ford motor vehicles were going to be, "computers on wheels."
It was an easy prophecy. Today, all cars are computers on wheels. Which raises a series of questions about data collection, security, retention, and governance. Questions that have caught the attention of California’s new privacy regulator – which just announced its first-ever enforcement action.
California, leading the nation in consumer privacy initiatives, aims to navigate this complex territory. Violators of its privacy laws can expect hefty fines.
Are California's concerns warranted? Our cars monitor us via embedded apps, sensors, and cameras, gathering data that can influence everything from insurance rates to urban planning. Who owns the data? Is it shared, sold, used by third parties we would not approve of if asked?
It's worth noting that the US is playing catch-up with Europe on this front. Across the pond, regulators have pushed car manufacturers to limit data collection and secure consumer privacy. For example, Porsche allows European drivers to control personal data collection directly from their dashboards.
But these measures aren’t just about privacy. This vast data reservoir can have national security implications, as demonstrated when China banned certain officials from owning or driving Teslas due to data leakage concerns. Today, it’s California at the helm. Tomorrow, it could be a nationwide effort to protect the data that our cars collect. Time will tell.
As always your thoughts and comments are both welcome and encouraged. Just reply to this email. -s
P.S. Tomorrow, on an all new Shelly Palmer LIVE, I'm going to talk about AI co-pilots (like Shopify's Sidekick), ways researchers have found to circumvent AI safety measures, the role of subject matter expertise in generative AI, China's idea of a well-aligned AI model and much, much more. See you Wednesday, AUG 2 at 12:15 p.m. ET on YouTube Live. .
ABOUT SHELLY PALMER
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named he covers tech and business for , is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular . He's a , and the creator of the popular, free online course, . Follow or visit .
