This is a darn good question. Think about all the data points that can be collected from your vehicle; where you are, where you're going, where you stop along the way, what you listen to, what your passengers &/or your kids watch while driving ... This is something that could play out into a real Big Brother type scenario if those data points are owned by a corporation.
Just think of all the information requests companies like Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft et al get from the government & law enforcement. That reach would now extend to your comings & goings, very personal things. Do you really want Google or Apple knowing you just visited a proctologist & then went to a pharmacy? Would you want some nameless, faceless analyst putting those two data points together??? In effect this would be like wearing a tracking device. Very scary.
My opinion is that the vehicle owner should own the data. Which of course raises the question of what happens to that data when the car is sold or traded in but I digress. If whoever owns the vehicle as well as the data they could choose to keep it to themselves or opt-in for certain services. Say you stop at Dunkin Doughnuts every morning, it would be to your advantage for DD to push special deals or promotions to you. You could also opt-out of services. Using the DD example lets say you are loyal to that brand but pass a Starbucks on your way to DD. You could opt-out of Starbucks advertisements.
How this data ownership is determined will be something we as a society need to work out. The solution needs to come from the public, legislation and corporate adherence to their own policies. Ask yourself this; do you want to have to agree to a Terms of Service in order to purchase that shiny new Ford Edge you want so bad?
This is another topic I would like to get reader comments from.
From PCWorld:
Who Should Control Connected Car Data?
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