Carmakers Justify Police Data Sharing Amid Congressional Probe

Carmakers have for a decade cited an industry group’s code of conduct to stress their privacy standards, but Congress is now investigating alleged “brazenness of the automakers’ deception” over troves of driver data shared with police.

Toyota Motor Corp., Volkswagen AG, Ford Motor Co. and other members of the code have pledged not to share driver location information with any government entity, including police, without “a warrant or a court order,” in the absence of consent, Hilary Cain, a senior executive for the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, told attorneys and privacy researchers on Sept. 17.

The reality is ...