Ford Exec Says They Know When You Break The Law, Then Backtracks
Older cars continue to get more and more appealing.
1st Gear: CES Bites Back
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Ford Exec Says They Know When You Break The Law, Then Backtracks
This may be the last year that no one from Jalopnik goes to CES given how many car stories were there, even if only a handful of them were that interesting. It also may be the last year that Ford's main marketing/sales guy Jim Farley will go after he said this in a panel dinner, as reported by Business Insider:1P
Farley was trying to describe how much data Ford has on its customers, and illustrate the fact that the company uses very little of it in order to avoid raising privacy concerns: "We know everyone who breaks the law, we know when you're doing it. We have GPS in your car, so we know what you're doing. By the way, we don't supply that data to anyone," he told attendees.
Rather, he said, he imagined a day when the data might be used anonymously and in aggregate to help other marketers with traffic related problems. Suppose a stadium is holding an event; knowing how much traffic is making its way toward the arena might help the venue change its parking lot resources accordingly, he said.
That's both scary as shit in light of a government report that says some automakers aren't doing a great job keeping that data secure, and also probably overstating it.P
That's why Ford denounced that statement saying "We do not track our customers. No data is transmitted from the vehicle without the customer's express consent."P
But, as The Detroit News points out
"Customers give consent when they use a navigation or voice-activated system."2P
Farley also backtracked on CNBC on Thursday saying "we don't monitor, aggregate data on how people drive. I've given people the wrong impression. I regret that."P
Well, maybe you don't "aggregate it," but you definitely have it, and easily could aggregate it.3P
I like Jim Farley, but this kind of screw up manages to simultaneously tip your hand and show how much data you can and do collect, while portraying that you're maybe not really doing anything with it.
Older cars continue to get more and more appealing.
