TomTom Sold Speeding Data To Police, Cops Used It To Bust Drivers

It may not be a new practice, but I still don't like it.

I love the line "The Amsterdam-based company says that it didn't know that the cops would use the information for law enforcement.." Isn't that what cops do?

That is Bull. Pick any accident report a cop writes and they very frequently, automatically check speed as a factor. That data is skewed by their bias.

By any chance, could you be biased? Why do you object?

You seem to be claiming that police officers do not take their job seriously. Maybe a police officer will weigh in.

I did not claim that speeding was THE leading cause, I said ONE of the leading causes. Accoeding to NHTSA, distracted driving is the leading cause.

I thought we'd done this already?
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/32946

How does TomTom (or any other vendor) collect this data? I don't have a TomTom device, but as far as I know, my GPS doesn't have this kind of transmit capability.

There's a screen on Tomtom that you can agree for them to collect data. When you connect your sat-nav to your computer, it transfers the data.

Interesting timing on this....
so sooon after the revelation of Apple being involved in similar shenanigans, tracking user locations without theier knowledge

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9215984/iPhone_secret...

Buying a TomTom is not going cause you to get a speeding ticket.

Not buying a TomTom is not going to prevent you from getting a speeding ticket.

All TomTom did was sell information they have collected on the traffic trends. This type of data is used by TomTom (and all other GPSr manufacturers) to improve their routing data. It lets them know that a particular road segment might have periods throughout the day where the actual traffic speed is much lower (or higher) than the speed limit. This lets them give a more accurate estimate of the time required for your route.

This same information was sold to the police who used it to set up speed traps in areas where the traffic was consistently above the posted speed limit. They did not use the TomTom data to send speeding tickets to those that TomTom had indicated were speeding.

If you want to avoid the speeding tickets, don't drive above the posted speed limit. If you choose to ignore the speed limit, then you are at risk to get a speeding ticket. When the cop pulls you over, he is not going to give you a free pass because your GPS is not a TomTom.

More Big Brother! I agree with some others, that I find the use of this information in that way is not good. The cops should be able to identify areas in their community on their own, based on problems, not generic data that I feel is considered to be private by most.

The information sold by Tom-Tom was submitted by the user to them. In other words, the user effectively said "Here is the record of my travels, where I've been, on what dates, between what hours and on which roads I traveled. Oh, by the way, the data also has a record of the speeds I was traveling along each of the tracks."

Tom-Tom didn't take the information, it was freely offered and so they used the data provided. Tom-Tom combined the data from all the users submitting information and then made the results of their interpretation of the data available to anyone wishing to purchase it.

You, as the source of a piece of that data gave up all your rights and claims to it when you approved the upload of the file to Tom-Tom. So, what you threw away you no longer have claim to, so you have no right to complain how someone else uses what essentially you trashed. The only "Big Brother" is the one located between your ears. he government didn't intrude into your life and take something they had no right to, they took what was freely given.

And, how much personal info was sold with it? That is an unknown factor.

If you feel like sharing everything about your life to whomever, go for it. I still respect what privacy I have left!

I will safeguard what is lawfully mine.

Prove this statement. Show me people have given specific consent, and were given a choice to opt-out.

You have a straw man argument here.

*Note - Boxcar has withdrawn his post*

the article at
http://consumerist.com/2011/04/tomtom-sold-speeding-data-to-...

said

TomTom Sold Speeding Data To Police, Cops Used It To Bust Drivers
By Marc Perton on April 29, 2011 4:00 PM 0 views

”According to Goddjin, all data was collected anonymously, and customers could opt out of providing the information. With GPS sales falling, TomTom has said it is looking for other ways to bring in cash, and will continue selling traffic data to authorities, though the company says it will change its licensing agreements so that the information can't be used to target consumers.

(emphasis added)

What we do not know is how the "opt out" was presented?

I think that says it all...

But the whole quote above contradicts itself. What a crock. They (Tom Tom) got busted handing over personal data.

In this day and age, there is nothing that is totally private. Anything that occurs in an electronic transaction is out there just waiting to be compromised (by crook or by accident) it is just a matter of time...

You are jumping to conclusions. The article did not mention any sales of personal information. The article did mention that the information was used by the police to target areas where TomTom users (and the general public) has shown a tendency to speed. By targeting areas where speeders like to speed, the police were also targeting TomTom customers who like to speed. This is what TomTom was stating that it would change. A bigger issue is that TomTom stopping the sale of this information will not make it any safer for you to speed. This information is readily available from many sources. There are many free to the public traffic sites that will tell you the current average speed of traffic along major roadways. The police can easily use this free information to do the same targeting. Nothing really changes.

Some forms of residential speeding is easily, quickly and PERMANTENTLY reduced by simply installing Mexican Topes (sounded TOE-PAYS) when entering and leaving a school zone, for example.

Of course there are some undesirable side effects. Topes do not recognize police cars, ambulances or fire trucks - any speeding vehicle will pay the penalty, and you don't even have to be speeding...

If you are driving from Cabo San Lucas (Baja Mexico), North to the pleasant little town of Todo Santos, there is a traffic light at the 1st major intersection - there is also a little sign warning of a tope (sometimes referred to a "sleeping policeman"). This device will in fact damage your car if you attempt to cross it at, let's say 10+ mph. So in spite of having a green light you must slow almost to a stop to cross the tope.

Just to be clear, the Todo Santos topes (they are on another street too, in front of a school) would resemble a row of 10" chrome balls cut in half and spaced about an 1" apart. There is no way to avoid them.

Topes work well for speeding motorcyles too... Here is a quote:

"Topes are Mexican speed bumps that are 2-3 times larger than the usual speed bumps most folks are used to gliding over in the US or Canada. If you do not slow down to a snail's pace before hitting a tope, you can expect to launch your vehicle into flight, potentially damage your suspension, and possibly bite half-way through your tongue"

and

"...they are signed at the tope itself, although these signs may be unfamiliar to foreign drivers, hidden by shade, trees or other obstructions or simply too late for an unsuspecting motorist. However, once you hit one without having seen it, your observation skills will improve significantly..."

If you don't want to hand over information about your driving, spending, viewing, living habits etc. then there are some very simple steps you can take.

Don't use a credit card
Don't, ever, use a "loyalty" card
Don't use a cell phone, or a home phone if you're really paranoid
Don't use the internet
Don't watch cable or satellite TV
Don't use a GPS
Don't drive a car with a license plate (ANPR cams)
Don't use public transit (CCTV)
Don't walk around (all that's left to you) without a face covering, e.g a burka (CCTV cams), except in France (where it will get you arrested).

Oh, and don't jaywalk while walking, the cop will want your address!

Will that keep the doomsday crowd happy?

How about we go the other way, and forbid data collection, or control it's collection by companies?

Or, as my security classification in the military stated, and required, "On a need to know basis".

You can certainly use a GPS. You just shouldn't connect it to the Internet, which you couldn't do if you were observing the other items on the list.

"1984", that is. It said the government would encourage citizens (in this case corporate citizens) to turn in their fellow citizens to the government police. It's happening all over the place. There are good applications of it (calling 911 to report drunk drivers) and bad applications of it.

Regardless, we TOO EASILY turn over our freedoms to the government.
It is a false argument to say that if you are not breaking the law, it doesn't affect you.
The erosion of your rights is real, and it is happening today.

Maybe they should rename the company to Uncle Tom-Tom?

NP

Nobody was turned in. TomTom sold the information of the aggregate speeds recorded for the various roadways. The police then used this information to set up speed traps.

Contrary to what most detractors on this thread are saying, nobody received a ticket in the mail based on the speed data collected by TomTom. Sorry to burst your bubble while you are are on your soapbox thumping your chest, but you need to get your facts straight. All you are doing now is trying to stir up some hysteria. We have the press and politicians doing enough of that already. We need the citizenry to be informed and act with reason, not this misguided hysteria where the facts are distorted to promote a cause.

Thanks for encouraging people to read the source detail and get the facts rather than add to unwarranted hysteria.

At least they're not release data of individuals, but still a bad idea. I'd hate to help the police give me or others speeding tickets.