Do you provide your personal data? If you forget to do this action before selling a car, you can hand over your private information to strangers

One in three used car buyers say they bought a car that still had personal data from the previous owner stored in it.

Most modern models are equipped with infotainment systems that can be linked to the owner’s smartphone, allowing him to enter his home address into the navigation system in addition to his private data.

But despite this, many drivers forget to erase this information from the vehicle before reselling it.

Carwow says this could potentially become a future data privacy issue for dealers selling used motorcycles.

The survey of almost 1,000 customers who had purchased a used car through Carwow’s online platform found that 33 percent had come across personal data of one or more former owners stored in the car’s infotainment system.

This includes information about the person and phone numbers for anyone in their contact list, which can be stored in a vehicle when drivers pair their smartphone with the vehicle.

The increased availability of applications in cars also means that data can be stored there, and in some cases people can leave their accounts open for others to access paid services and private information accessible through an app.

While many would expect a private sale to have forgotten to clear the system’s history or perform a factory reset, more than four in five drivers believed that a dealer selling a vehicle would be responsible for deleting this information of a vehicle on their forecourt.

About 83 percent of respondents said they would expect the dealer to know personal information about a car they are advertising.

Under current regulations, ‘personal data’ is any data that can be used to identify someone, such as a home address, email address or telephone number.

If dealers fail to remove this information from a car they sell, there is a potential data privacy issue for dealers, says Gaurav Jain, commercial director at Carwow.

The survey found that 33% of customers who purchased a used vehicle through Carwow’s online platform had found personal information of one or more former owners stored in the car’s infotainment system.

Under current regulations, ‘personal data’ is any data that can identify someone, such as an email address, telephone number or their home address stored in a satellite navigation system

“It may be unclear whether the responsibility for deleting user information from a vehicle upon change of ownership lies with the original owner, the manufacturer or the dealer,” Jain told This is Money.

‘The allocation of responsibility may be influenced by which of these entities can be regarded as the ‘controller’ of the data under GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) legislation.’

Carwow is calling for further clarity from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on this issue.

The ICO is responsible for drawing up data protection laws. It also upholds information rights in the public interest, promotes openness by public authorities and data privacy for individuals.

“We recommend that all car sellers remove all personal data from the car before handing over their car – including any in-car apps,” Jain added.

‘In addition, dealers must safeguard their own interests, as well as those of their customers, by taking reasonable steps to delete data themselves before handing over the keys to a new owner.’

The wider availability of smartphone-like apps in cars could also pose a threat to privacy, and in some cases people may leave their accounts open to allow others to access paid services and content

A 2020 study by consumer watchdog Which? found that more than half (54 percent) of the 14,000 drivers surveyed had a phone synced to their car via Bluetooth or via a USB cable.

By connecting a smartphone to a car, drivers can play their own music, download their contacts and messages, get live traffic and navigation information and make hands-free calls or send messages.

While this can be useful, if the systems are not properly wiped, this data can be viewed by the next owner and potentially every owner afterward, unless their smartphone is later disconnected, the account deleted, and downloaded information erased.

But of these drivers, more than half (51 percent) had not tried to desync their phone before selling it.

More worryingly, almost a third (31 percent) took no action at all to delete the personal data they had shared with their car, essentially handing over their private information to someone they did not know.

Four out of five (79 percent) car owners did not follow car manual instructions to delete data and reset the car to factory settings before selling it, despite this being the best way to ensure no personal data remains. the operating system.

Harry Rose, editor of Which? Magazine said cars are at risk of becoming “treasuries of information” and drivers should treat them like smartphones and tablets by resetting them to factory settings before letting them go.

“Manufacturers must do much more to prioritize customers’ personal privacy so that drivers fully understand how much data their vehicle may contain and how to remove this information to eradicate these risks,” Rose added.