It seems like there isn’t an industry left for the “Big Tech” giants (Google, Amazon, Apple, and Facebook) to swallow up.
In their drive to entrench their monopoly power (century-old antitrust law be damned!), Big Tech has encroached on almost every sector of the global economy. In great part thanks to their capitalizing off of users’ data, the four major companies have emerged as among the most powerful the world has ever seen.
But even as the giants have moved into everything from Hollywood to healthcare, there’s one big piece of the puzzle that remains up-for-grabs: The automobile industry. Unfortunately, it’s clear that Big Tech sees the auto industry, particularly the autonomous vehicle (AV) market, as a new, golden opportunity for consumer data collection.
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In a time when modern, “computerized” cars increasingly extract more and more data from drivers, Big Tech’s disastrous record on privacy rights makes its presence in the sector an alarming one. And in a post-Roe era where Big Tech’s data collection practices are a treasure trove for states working to punish abortion patients, the tech giants’ expansion into the auto sector will only heighten the dangers to individual rights.
The federal government can and must prevent the tech giants from leveraging drivers’ personal data to further entrench their monopoly power. Failure to take action could mean a further erosion of privacy rights in a nation where access to reproductive healthcare and other liberties are being actively stripped away.
From car software to digital key agreements with existing car companies, Big Tech companies are already making their mark in the field. But anyone familiar with headlines about the Apple Car or Google’s autonomous vehicle project Waymo project knows—the tech giants’ ambitions in the auto space goes well beyond dashboard features.
Though it may sound far-fetched, the notion that modern cars are becoming “smartphones on wheels” reflects the grim truth that automobiles are increasingly adept at recording driver data without their knowledge. A 2021 report in The Intercept found that the infotainment systems built into newer car models can store data as sensitive as “favorite locations, call logs, contact lists, SMS messages, emails, pictures, videos, social media feeds, and the navigation history of everywhere the vehicle has been.”
Indeed, modern cars are becoming increasingly adept at collecting both visual and audio data via external cameras and built-in sensors. Even though its public presence remains minimal years after launch, footage recorded by vehicles in Google’s Waymo service is already being utilized by law enforcement.
Equipped with as many as 29 external cameras, the prospect of Waymo becoming commonplace throughout the United States would mark a massive expansion of mass surveillance. Zoox, the robotaxi company acquired by Amazon in 2020, reportedly has built-in sensors that can “detect and track roughly a hundred people and vehicles” over 400 feet away.
A robot car from Google’s sister company Waymo on the road in Mountain View.
Andrej Sokolow/picture alliance via GettyWhile some may find little problem with footage taken by AVs becoming standard in the fight against violent crime, the prospect of it being used to criminalize abortion should serve as a wake-up call to policymakers.
Even before the Supreme Court took a sledgehammer to reproductive rights this year, advocates have sounded the alarm on the use of digital surveillance to persecute abortion patients. Far from tin-foil hattery, messages and search histories have already been leveraged to punish women for seeking abortion care.
So-called “geofence warrants,” which allow the police find out which phones were used at a specific location in a set time period, already pose a significant risk to abortion patients. Activists have also raised concern about the potential use of automated license plate readers (ALPRs), which can either be stationary or attached to a moving police car, to surveil abortion patients.
In August, digital rights organization Fight For The Future (FFTF) raised these exact concerns with the Federal Trade Commission, and noted that “[w]hen combined with Google’s ability to location-track Android users, the threat to privacy this poses is mind-boggling.”
And make no mistake: Big Tech’s intrusion into the auto space poses a threat to privacy rights well beyond the scope of reproductive healthcare access. Big Tech companies have proven time and time again that they are unwilling to take proper precautions when handling sensitive user data.
In 2018, Google willfully failed to report a data breach that affected as many as half a million users until some seven months later. Over the past decades, data breaches affecting Amazon subsidiaries have compromised the data of millions of users. Experts have sounded the alarm that Apple’s CarPlay technology could be compromised by hackers, potentially putting the welfare of drivers in jeopardy.
If Big Tech’s efforts to dominate the auto industry were truly a good faith effort to innovate in the sector, one would expect the companies to be transparent about the potential risks their technologies pose. Unfortunately, this is not the case. True to Google’s general lack of transparency, the company has fought tirelessly to keep Waymo safety statistics out of the public eye.
Following a legal battle with the California DMV, Waymo was able to keep crucial data related to vehicle crashes safety under the guise of protecting trade secrets. The so-called “Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets,” an industry group that counts both Waymo and Zoox as members, has worked tirelessly to water down basic safety regulations at the federal level.
A Waymo autonomous vehicle drives along California Street on April 11, 2022, in San Francisco, California.
Justin Sullivan/GettyFrom putting privacy rights of abortion patients at risk to undermining vehicle safety standards, Big Tech’s auto obsession is an all-around bad deal for consumers.
Federal regulators should heed the advice of Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin and crack down on Big Tech’s active effort to dominate the auto industry before it's too late.
Additionally, Congress needs to curb Big Tech’s monopoly power and safeguard the privacy rights of Americans—particularly vulnerable people seeking abortions in a country that’s increasingly hostile to reproductive rights.
