Toronto, Ontario — A new report from AIA Canada entitled, Data Awareness, Ownership & Sharing: Vehicle Owner Attitudes Towards In-Car Data, has revealed that a large percentage of Canadians are unsure of who owns their vehicle-generated data.
The question of data ownership comes amidst right to repair support in Canada and a petition presented to the House of Commons. The proposed right to repair legislation gives consumers the choice of where to fix their vehicles alongside open access to OEM tools, software and vehicle data.
The new report indicates that 34 percent of Canadians think they own vehicle data, while a close 30 percent think vehicle manufacturers own it—21 percent said they had no idea whatsoever.
In a webinar hosted by AIA, lead researcher Rick Nadeau spoke on this confusion among Canadian vehicle owners.
“There’s quite a bit of confusion around who in fact owns the data with very, very little level of confidence around understanding what data is even produced,” says Nadeau.
Despite confusion over who owns vehicle data, over 75 percent of respondents indicated that they believe that drivers themselves should own it.
Furthermore, 65 percent of respondents indicated that they would like to better understand the processes behind vehicle data production. Despite the majority percentage, Nadeau remains concerned about the 35 percent that don’t know or care about the data their vehicle makes.
“Why aren’t they in fact concerned about who controls their data?” questions Nadeau.
Despite the mixed findings of the report, support for right to repair legislation and an increased focus on data ownership information is on the up for Canadian vehicle owners
