Modern cars are smarter than ever. They can help you drive hands-free, warm up your seat before you even step in, and even call for help in case of an accident. But behind all this convenience, there’s a growing problem that most drivers aren’t aware of: your connected car could also be sharing a lot of information about you with the government.
Automakers have been racing to add new subscription-based features to their vehicles think self-driving tools, entertainment systems, and accident-recording cameras.
To enable all of these services, cars need to stay constantly connected to the internet. This connectivity isn’t just for your convenience; it’s quietly creating a detailed digital trail of where you go, how fast you drive, and even who you might meet.
According to police training documents reviewed by WIRED, law enforcement agencies are very aware of these digital footprints and they’re eager to use them.
Inside the Police Playbook: How Your Car Data Is Collected
The documents, obtained via public records requests by Property of the People, show how police are trained to extract data from connected cars, especially those with active subscriptions.
Every major car company, it turns out, has its own protocols for what data gets collected, how often, and under what conditions it can be shared with authorities.
For instance:
– A GM car with an active OnStar subscription transmits its location about twice as often as a Ford vehicle.
– Vehicles may continue “phoning home” to automakers even after you cancel your subscription without your permission.
– Different cellular networks like AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile also have varying policies about what data they will hand over and how.
If your car uses AT&T’s network, for example, police might be able to “ping” it to find its location in real time but not if it’s on T-Mobile.
No Subscription? Your Car Might Still Be Watching You
Worse still, even if you’re not paying for a subscription service, your car could still be quietly transmitting your data.
An email from a detective in 2022 noted that some vehicles continue to send data back to the manufacturer regardless of whether a subscription is active sometimes to build profiles for targeted marketing, or to tempt you into re-subscribing.
In short: you don’t have to actively use your car’s smart features to be caught up in surveillance
Police often rely on a technique called a “tower dump,” where they ask cellular providers to share the list of all devices connected to a certain cell tower during a given time period.
Even if you’re not suspected of any crime, your device and by extension, your car could still be swept up in one of these data grabs.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling in Carpenter v. United States acknowledged that location data deserves strong privacy protections.
Meanwhile, tech companies like Google have made it harder for authorities to access location data through geofencing, setting an important precedent.
Automakers aren’t consistent when it comes to defending customer privacy.
In fact, a letter from U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Edward Markey highlighted how some companies, like Toyota, Nissan, and Subaru, willingly hand over location data to police with just a subpoena no warrant needed.
Other companies, like Volkswagen, impose some limits (like only giving seven days’ worth of data), but the overall picture is messy.
Only Tesla, according to the senators, had a policy to notify customers if their data had been requested by the government.
Privacy advocates are alarmed.
“The public should know if they’re being surveilled,” says Jay Stanley of the American Civil Liberties Union. “Meaningful consent is missing people have no idea this is happening.”
The Bottom Line: Your Car’s Smart Features Could Be Spying on You
Today’s cars are increasingly designed to be connected at all times not just to provide cool features, but to create recurring revenue for automakers through subscriptions.
That constant connection, however, leaves drivers vulnerable to surveillance by law enforcement — often without their knowledge or consent.
Privacy experts warn: Location data is some of the most sensitive information you generate, revealing where you go, who you meet, and even patterns about your daily life.
