Same old, same (depressingly) old. Just with more names.

About eight months ago, I pointed out that, with the right “partners” “Smart” cars can spy on your smartphone. Last week, The Markup reports much more of the same, that is much more evidence that “a firehose of sensitive data from your vehicle is flowing to a group of companies you’ve probably never heard of."

That article seems the next chapter of the one I commented last year, and in more than a sense is just that:

• Today’s cars are akin to smartphones, with apps connected to the internet that collect huge amounts of data, some of which is highly personal.
• Most drivers have no idea what data is being transmitted from their vehicles, let alone who exactly is collecting, analyzing, and sharing that data, and with whom.

The only real news is the names of WHO is doing this, at least in some parts of the world: “The Markup has identified 37 companies that are part of the rapidly growing connected vehicle data industry that seeks to monetize such data in an environment with few regulations governing its sale or use."

To know those names, read and share the Markup article. But never forget that…

What matters is the same thing as last year:

Quoting myself, “The longer they are around, the more these “smart” cars look a really, really stupid idea.”