Below is the full-text of a Mozilla campaign email I received. Mozilla’s consumer buyer’s guide Privacy not included reviews apps and consumer electronics to help the general public choose products that better respect their privacy, and occasionally organizes petitions & campaigns to push for privacy regulation and accountability.
The bad news: major car companies say they can listen to us in our cars, collect our genetic information, track information about our sex lives, and sometimes even sell our personal information to places we don’t even know.
The good news: major car companies are also listening to our complaints about data privacy.
Last week, [Mozilla] revealed research showing that 25 global car brands are out of control when it comes to collecting, protecting, and even selling our personal information. And [Mozilla] stirred up a hornet’s nest.
Immediately, the auto industry scrambled to defend their disturbing surveillance practices: They spoke to the international press and wrote to the United States Congress, claiming that their car companies are “committed to protecting consumer privacy” and even called for regulation themselves.
As infuriating as this may be, it’s actually good news for our cause. If the auto industry is already getting so defensive, it means they are feeling the pressure from our research and all the bad press. And that means we’re making an impact.
Now is the time to use the momentum, increase public pressure and make car companies stop their intrusive data collection practices. Will you join thousands of Mozilla supporters and become part of the campaign?
Like it or not, Mozilla is among the last bastions of sound, honest software.
If we are talking major software making companies/groups, then I’ll happily agree pretty much 100% with that statement because there are definitely plenty of small groups following their footsteps in one way or another.
If you’re able, I urge everyone to toss $5/month to Mozilla and Thunderbird because if they fall and the web becomes a monopoly to Chromium, it’s over.
They spoke to the international press and wrote to the United States Congress, claiming that their car companies are “committed to protecting consumer privacy” and even called for regulation themselves.
“Gee whizz we awe vewy sowwy fow doing a pwivacy invasion” 👉👈🥺
I’m beyond sick of corporations knowing they can do whatever they want as long as they run to congress and flagrantly lie.
[…] vewy sowwy fow being cawt doing […] *
Actually it wouldn’t be outrageous for them to call for regulation. Right now they are almost forced to do what everyone else is doing to stay competitive. It there were more regulations they could all compete on a better level.
Every time a corporation or group of corporations ask for regulations to be placed on themselves, that’s a massive red flag that they are going to lobby to cut the legs off of that regulation, or they will make the regulation give them more power.
An optimistic interpretation is that they feel like they can’t stop data collection without being hurt in the marketplace by competitors who will make more money by continuing to collect data, so they want governmentregulations to level the playing field.
That’s being really charitable though…
It’s all about dat $$$. Not a bad interpretation, though.
I just sent a request to get all info they had on me and my car. Will be interesting
how do cars transmit the data they collect if they don’t have a wifi connection?
Cellular modems.
