Can drivers get their personal data deleted?
At the time of our research last year, the only brands we could confirm would let customers delete their personal information were two European car brands (
Renault and
Dacia) who have to give drivers that right because it’s the law in the EU, according to the privacy law
GDPR.
Senator Markey asked:
Can all users, regardless of where they reside,
request the deletion of their data? If so, please describe the process through which a user may delete their data. If not, why not?
Toyota,
Subaru,
BMW,
Tesla, and
Ford said that all drivers in the US
do have this right or will soon. Well, that’s new and good! We hope to see that commitment in their privacy policies -- where it matters. So far,
Toyota is the only company to make that promise official with a change to their privacy policy.
But other car-makers doubled down, saying it’s not possible to commit to deleting their customers’ data or that they’re waiting for a law to force them to. Yeah, we don’t really believe that. And hey! Here's an idea. Car-makers, you’re officially invited to
join our fight for federal privacy legislation in the USA. Until then, how about you apply the strictest state privacy law (generally, California’s CCPA) to all US states? That way you don’t, like
Nissan worries, have to use an “arbitrary standard
” in the meantime. You can do it!