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OEMs aren't just connecting cars for the fun of it; the idea is to actually improve their customers' experience with the cars. But right now, we're still missing an actual killer app—and to be honest, data on how many customers renew those cell contracts for their vehicles. A survey out this week from Solace that polled 1,500 connected car owners found that they still don't really trust the technology.
[...] But the bit of Solace's survey I found most interesting was the widespread ignorance regarding data collection. Only 38 percent of connected car drivers knew that their cars could store personally identifiable information [PII] about them, with 48 percent unaware this was the case. And that's important because that PII is being viewed as a goldmine.
[...] "[The fuel companies] want to offer you more than fuel," [Ben] Volkow said. "Many times, the fuel stations are also interested in anonymized data—why do some people always stop, do they take whatever's available or a specific brand, places to build new stations, and so on."
What's more, unlike selling cars, selling data is a high-margin business—between 80- and 90-percent profit. "A big part of the investment is already done," he said. "The databases are built, SIMs and modems are in the cars; they've crossed the Rubicon."
[...] Volkow thinks that drivers will be happy to share this data, as long as they get some value out of it, like free servicing or micropayments per mile traveled. But he also thinks consumer education is vital. "People tend to be more demanding when it comes to cars; they don't think of them as the same as mobile devices. You have to convince them there's a benefit," he told me.
Source: ArsTechnica
(Score: 5, Insightful) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Saturday February 24 2018, @05:25AM (18 children)
I regard not availing myself of discounts the price I pay for not being tracked
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Spamalope on Saturday February 24 2018, @05:57AM (3 children)
It's not a discount when they raise the non-card price when the introduce the cards.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by anubi on Saturday February 24 2018, @07:16AM (1 child)
That is probably the main reason I no longer shop at my local "Card Price" grocery store and drive out of my way to get to WalMart.
I now get even my pharmacy through WalMart. That started when CVS went "Card Price". I did not want anyone tracking my prescriptions, and I know that the Card is a way of getting around State and Federal privacy laws. I know a lot of people still buy their stuff there, but its probably a loyalty thing, as businesses continue to test just how much crap people will put up with before they expend the effort to find alternatives.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Saturday February 24 2018, @08:17PM
The thing is, WalMart is attempting to become a monopoly, and you are supporting them in that. I *think* that is probably even worse. (And don't think that Amazon is an improvement.)
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 24 2018, @02:54PM
They already do this in Australia. "Plug in our tracker box to receive X discount" not mentioning that the price is raised by X if you refuse.
They want to force drivers under 25 to always use them. Be tracked by GPS everywhere.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by NotSanguine on Saturday February 24 2018, @08:05AM (9 children)
I'd happily accept someone else's loyalty card if they offered it to me.
I don't use them myself, and when asked for one by cashiers, I cheerfully inform them that loyalty cards are against my religion.
Which isn't strictly true (I'm an atheist and, as such, have no religion), but expresses my feelings about them in a way just about anyone can understand.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Saturday February 24 2018, @08:13AM (6 children)
Telling cashiers I didn't want to be tracked led many of them to regard me as a conspiracy theorist.
I'm not but I do experience paranoia from time to time. To know that I'm being tracked makes that paranoia far worse.
You might regard that as my problem and not theirs. How would you feel if cashiers gave you a bloody nose every time you shopped?>
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 4, Interesting) by NotSanguine on Saturday February 24 2018, @08:32AM (4 children)
I hear you MDC. I don't like being tracked either, so I do what little I can to minimize it.
Also, I just don't care what (almost) everyone else thinks about me or anything else.
But I don't tell them I don't want to be tracked. I tell them "it's against my religion." That usually elicits a chuckle and then they shut up and ring up my purchases.
I don't regard it as a problem at all, yours, mine or theirs, as it doesn't impact me in the slightest. You see, I'm not a cashier, so there's little chance of me being one that services you.
To answer your question, I'd probably get pretty tired of having to go to court all the time to testify against the cashiers for assault.
Do your consider "To know that I'm being tracked makes that paranoia far worse." to be a problem? If so, do you view it as your problem, their problem, someone else's problem, some combination of those or something else?
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 3, Informative) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Saturday February 24 2018, @10:10AM (1 child)
I expect that if I didn't have Schizoaffective Disorder I wouldn't care about being tracked. Many linux fanbois dislike being tracked because that's the Libertarian way to feel, but I don't share that attitude.
I have to take great care to avoid becoming symptomatic. None of my medicines are completely effective; sometimes they stop working at all.
When my paranoia gets really bad I experience visual hallucinations in which I see cops everywhere. I call them "The Thought Police". My deepest fear [warplife.com] is that I will become unable to distinguish real cops from hallucinations, and if so I might try to defend myself from them.
That's commonly known as "Officer Assisted Suicide" as well as "Suicide By Cop". My deepest fear is commonly the deepest fear of law enforcement officers.
I once went to the Emergency Room because I was losing my ability to distinguish the two. The emergency room doc said all the shrinks were gone, and that I should return on Monday. I explained in vivid detail what was likely to happen if I really had to wait.
He paged a resident who took an hour to drive from Halifax to Truro. She showed up in a scandalous red cocktail dress, high heels and black fishnet stockings. She told me to increase the dosage of Risperdal. I told her I had tried that on my own but was too sedated. She told me to split the doses between morning and bedtime. That worked quite well.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 24 2018, @05:25PM
Well, I do not have your described disorder. And I can speak for a lot of people -- we don't want to be tracked, not by the government, and not by companies looking to sell our data repeatedly so they can advertise to us better to try to get us to buy more things.
Some of us just want to be left alone, but privacy is turning out to be the most expensive of luxuries that few will be able to afford.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 24 2018, @08:16PM (1 child)
I just say no. It works every time. No explanation necessary.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 24 2018, @08:37PM
Nancy Reagan, is that you?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 24 2018, @02:56PM
I gave them my old postcode from another city once. The cashier challenged me on it. I named all the major local roads, shopping centers and told her to look it up. Then she asked for my phone number
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 24 2018, @09:01AM (1 child)
Absolutely! I have several dozen "loyalty" cards in a jar at home.
These are cards I found on the sidewalk, parking lot, wherever. I have no idea whatsoever who they were issued to.
If I absolutely *have* to use a Card store, I fish through through my box to retrive whatever card the business will want to see.
The fact the legitimate owner of that account gets credited with my purchase does not concern me. I just want the 20-30 percent out-the-door discount.
Especially if what I wanted to buy was something like a bottle of likker. It can really add up on a $25 bottle of hooch. I have to pay a $5 penalty for not presenting their card. I just don't want it on record that I will buy that stuff from time to time.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 24 2018, @09:07AM
One of my neighbors gets scores of application blanks at Ralphs. He is always "losing" his card.
Turns out Ralphs is the cheapest place nearby to get alcohol if you have a card.
So, he gets the cards, and hands them out to the homeless.
They buy the alcohol, he gets credited, then uses the bonus points to help pay for gasoline.
(Score: 2) by EETech1 on Saturday February 24 2018, @08:56AM (3 children)
Usually you can just enter a phone number.
Just pick one at random, and get the discount.
If it doesn't work, they'll have a card to scan at the register.
Cheers!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by NotSanguine on Saturday February 24 2018, @09:07AM (1 child)
That is true in many places. And I've taken advantage of that many times when traveling.
But not where I live. Here, you either have the card, sign up for the card or you're SOL.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Saturday February 24 2018, @05:16PM
Do they verify any information? At two places where I've actually signed up for loyalty cards, I've given them completely fake information -- fake name, fake address, fake phone number, etc. I've used the cards fine. I've never had a problem. No one has ever asked me for proof of any of the information I used to sign up.
Of course, if you do something like use your credit card to shop there, it wouldn't surprise me if they gleaned some info from that and your data got aggregated with real-world data. But if you're using a credit card to shop anywhere, you should be expecting to be tracked anyway. If you pay in cash with a loyalty card that's attached to fake info, doesn't that solve your problem?
(Score: 1) by redneckmother on Saturday February 24 2018, @03:12PM
The phone number I give is (area code of your choice)-555-1212.
Mas cerveza por favor.