Automakers Track Drivers

And you can bet that data, like everything else collected by big business, will end up being used by the government to protect us.

Do you know something the rest of us do not?

Credit? Examples? Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Cell phone companies, etc. or are you just looking for a counterpoint to argue? Let's not get personal, but the media reports on this topic frequently.

Have a nice day.

I expect that the NSA is trying to hack into everything that they can. The reports that they were able to tap into servers of certain Internet Providers overseas tells us they are trying.

We know about the metadata from cellphone companies.

I will almost always react to statements like

because of the hyperbolic nature of such statements.

I thought I would make the "counterpoint" of credit card companies because these companies have more "personal" information about us than almost anyone else. What we bought; when and where we bought it.

Your inclusion of Facebook was interesting. People put information on social media because they want other people to read and react. When prospective employers read such social media, I expect that there may be those who regret what they put into the public domain.

Were you implying that Google and Yahoo typically give information to the government?

The media loves to put out stories about what someone said might (or will soon) be happening, but "everything else collected by big business" is a lot of exaggeration in my view.

We have known for years that automotive features like "OnStar" can know where you are - the pitch is that if you have a wreck , help can be sent to you even though you are in a ditch hidden from view.

There was nothing that should have been alarming in the "link" that started this conversation.

it said

and

What has happened in the last decade is that technology has outpaced our ability to understand the implications for privacy.

Not a surprise that the car companies collect such data. OnStar has done it for years, and provided that information to law enforcement, courts, and who knows.

Last year, I think, after a less than favourable review of the Tesla (in the NY Times?) Tesla responded with telemetry data from that car showing the reviewer's descriptions and said telemetry data did not agree...

As to websites, I tell my dad, "Papa, if you can't tell what a website is selling right off, then what they're selling is YOU -- all the data they can get on you."

Ain't that the truth!

--I detect a huge potential for yet another chapter in the proverbial and ongoing saga of Big Brother Watching You coming into play, here!

What's the big deal if tracking data is recorded? Does it really matter if big brother knows I went to Lowe's today to buy a paint brush? They'll get bored watching most of us.

Who is "Big Brother" by your definition?