In the graph below, the teal color represents vehicle data exposed while the orange arrow represents data exposed to advertising/tracking companies by the companion app.
Unsurprisingly, Google, Meta, and Microsoft crop up a lot in the connected apps.
According to the research, 7 of 30 companion apps transmitted sensitive identifiers (VINs, emails, phone numbers, precise location) to third parties associated with advertising and tracking.
For those shopping for a car, it seems a lot simpler – don't buy a connected car.
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters There are two ways this matters when it comes to internet-connected cars and companion apps.