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Ford Motor Company (F) Global Marketing Director Jim Farley touched off a privacy storm when he told an audience at the Consumer Electronics Show that the automaker is tracking their travels thanks to their in-car navigation systems. He told the crowd in Las Vegas that the automaker tracks driver behavior, “We know everyone who breaks the law, we know when you’re doing it.”

The auto manufacturers have installed “black boxes” on most modern cars. The black boxes are capable of tracking, gathering, and storing vehicle information. In fact, the Fed has proposed that such tracking technology become standard equipment on all cars.

Privacy firestorm

Even though Ford quickly backed down from Mr. Farley’s claims, the comments created a privacy firestorm. As a result, TheDetroitBureau.com reports that privacy advocates accelerated increased pressure on manufacturers to reveal what info that collects on “black box’s” they’re doing with the personal data they do collect – and put limits on how it can be used.

In response, a group of 19 automakers has gotten together to lay down some ground rules, which they hope will assuage fears about the accessibility and use of the material. According to the article, the makers say the information won’t be given to government officials or law enforcement agencies without a court order, sold to insurance companies or other companies without their permission.

The automakers agreeing to the “rules,” which they submitted to the Federal Trade Commission, include Aston Martin, BMW, Chrysler (STLA),  Ferrari, Ford, General Motors (GM), Honda (HMC) Hyundai, Kia, Maserati, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Porsche, Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo.

Self-imposed data collection “rules”

The author speculates that the automakers are willing to abide by the self-imposed “rules” because they believe actual laws could become onerous. Sen. Edward Markey, D-MA is skeptical of the impact of the “rules.” He called them “an important first step,” but said it remains unclear “how auto companies will make their data collection practices transparent beyond including the information in vehicle manuals.”

Senator Markey noted that the automakers did not offer consumers an opt-out option for whether sensitive information is collected in the first place. He plans to legislate an answer. He said in a statement, “I will call for clear rules — not voluntary commitments — to ensure the privacy and safety of American drivers is protected,” Markey said in a statement.

The automakers also committed to “implement reasonable measures” to protect personal information from unauthorized access. Privacy experts are concerned that in recent years many vehicles have had a variety of GPS and mobile communications technology built into them.

The TheDetroitBureau explains these devices record and sends all types of information which privacy advocates are afraid the data could be used by the government against the owners of vehicles. Some worry that many three-letter agencies and law enforcement will use data from the device to track citizens. Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center said that legislation is needed to ensure automakers don’t back off their self-imposed “rules” when they become inconvenient. He said,

You just don’t want your car spying on you. That’s the practical consequence of a lot of the new technologies that are being built into cars.

Pop-up ads on in-car touch screens

The black boxes now installed in new vehicles could also be a safety issue for drivers. The article speculates that the rising level of interactivity of cars could open the door for pop-up ads in cars. These automakers’ “rules” do not end the possibility that Pop-up ads could appear on the touch screens of cars, trucks, and SUVs as folks are motoring down the road.

One loophole in the guidelines identified in the blog, if customers agree at the time they buy the car, they could receive messages from advertisers who want to target motorists based on their location and other personal data according to the author. Some safety advocates are concerned about pop-up ads possibly popping up on in-car touch screens while drivers are behind the wheel. Henry Jasny of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety warned the Associated Press.

There is going to be a huge amount of metadata that companies would like to mine to send advertisements to you in your vehicle … We don’t want pop-up ads to become a distraction.

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The road to hell is paved with good intentions and full of pot-holes. I covered Cisco’s try at monetizing driver data here. Industry officials say they want to assure their customers that the information that their cars stream from the vehicle’s computers to automakers (or Feds) via OnStar. Sync, Automatic, In-Drive, or Car-Net won’t be handed over to authorities without a court order, sold to insurance companies, or used to bombard them with ads for pizza, gas stations, or other businesses they drive past, without their permission.

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Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.