Connected Cars Share A Lot More Data With Companies Than Owners May Realize

Many car companies pointed to their privacy policies or third-party contracts.

Working with Consumer Reports, researchers at Northeastern University examined 21 vehicles across 21 different brands (plus 30 automaker companion apps) from October 2024 though August 2025.

They scanned the vehicles' wifi and cellular data streams, poked at infotainment systems, and even stuffed the cars into giant faraday tents.

Photo by: Bosch Of the 21 cars tested, 19 phoned home to at least one third-party over the internet.

The researchers also shamed car companies like Tesla and Rivian for warning owners that disabling telematic connectivity and data sharing could result in degraded vehicle functionality.