The 10-Second Version (AI Summary)
What happened: Ford launched a "privacy promise" website showing customers how it uses their data and how to opt out anytime.
Why it matters: It went live days after GM agreed to pay $220 million over selling driver data to brokers.
What to do: Make sure your delivery team can explain what a customer gives up when they switch sharing off.
AI-generated and reviewed by the ASOTU team.
Picture a brand-new Ford where the owner flips every data setting off and a hand crank pops out so they can roll the windows down themselves. That was our joke on today's episode of the Automotive State of the Union. The real version is close. Ford's chief privacy officer says a customer who wants zero connected data shared can build "essentially... a quasi-'80s mode car."
How does Ford's privacy promise compare with GM's settlement?
Ford's "privacy promise" site went live Nov. 2, showing customers how the automaker uses their data and how to opt out of sharing anytime, in the vehicle or in the Ford app.
GM | Ford | |
|---|---|---|
The news | Agreed to pay $220 million to settle claims from 35 states and D.C. | Launched a site explaining its data use and opt-outs |
The data question | Accused of selling drivers' location and behavior data to brokers, who passed it to insurers | Says it does "not sell driving data to data brokers at all" |
What changes | Must limit what it collects and get express consent before collecting or sharing | Owners can turn off sharing for navigation, diagnostics, and geolocation, depending on the model |
Ford still sees revenue potential in connected services, especially for commercial vehicles. Chief Privacy Officer Kristin Jones admitted a mass opt-out would be a challenge. A Ford survey of 1,000 consumers found more than half value privacy but accept that some sharing is needed to use certain tech.
"If people are opting out, we need to tailor our products and services to something they'll want to use."
Kristin Jones, Chief Privacy Officer, Ford
What does a customer lose when they flip the switch?
We love this move. Every opt-out comes with a trade-off, and the honest move is to show customers exactly what goes away. Real-time navigation needs location data. If a customer would rather run navigation through their phone, that's their call.
What matters most is that a customer's data isn't sold off for outside marketing. If the automaker that built your truck markets to you, that comes with owning a connected vehicle. Plenty of cameras on the drive to work already know where you are.
For dealers, this lands at delivery. Customers will ask what Ford knows about them and what happens if they turn it off. A salesperson who can walk through those trade-offs in plain language builds the same trust Ford is chasing. Jones put it this way: "The trust really comes from transparency."
The full conversation is on today's episode.
