Yesterday, I got the opportunity to interview Doug Newcomb who is an Automotive Technology Expert and the Chair and Co-producer of the upcoming Connected Car Conference (C3) at CE Week. The event that brings together relevant stakeholders and thought leaders from all industries involved with development of the connected car.
My first question was about hacking. Specifically, is there a legitimate fear that cars can be hacked and that would be dangerous for drivers. What Newcomb correctly points out is that while there will always be those who can and will hack a car to prove that it can be done, for most this will be nothing to worry about due to the fact that a lot of hackers are driven by a financial incentive. Thus there should be no worries about some hacker from Eastern Europe hacking your car. Having said that, there’s really noting that you can do to protect yourself from anyone who may be inclined to hack your car. At least not at the moment.
The next question revolved around privacy. There have been examples of companies like Tom Tom getting caught selling user data, GM collecting data from owners of OnStar equipped cars that didn’t subscribe to the service, or a Ford exec saying that his company knew when you were breaking the law (and later backtracking on that). Newcomb said that this is a legitimate concern and there needs to be clear privacy policies from car makers that describe what data a car company collects. Usually it’s in the form of some very fine print someplace where most people don’t look or it isn’t readily provided to owners. Car owners should also ask car companies and dealers for this information as well. Finally, they should read the owners manual as this info is likely buried in there some place. In terms of protecting your privacy, Newcomb’s advice is kind of old school. Erase your personal information before you sell the car. That includes the phonebook that your car downloads from your phone or the favourite places in the navigation system for example.
When it comes to security, Newcomb’s cynical journalist side thinks that car companies aren’t doing enough to ensure the security of cars. But the reality is likely that they’re doing just enough to make sure their products are secure. Though it would be nice if we as the general public could get a better idea about that instead of car companies tend to avoid answering the question directly and using the excuse that revealing their security plans would tip off the hackers as to what the are doing.
My final question was about whether there was one car company that was ahead of the rest in terms of making cars part of the Internet of things. The answer from Newcomb was Tesla. The electric car torchbearers can push software updates over the air to address issues on an as needed basis. That included ones to adjust the ride height of the car to address the issue where Teslas would catch fire if they hit an object on the road which would then puncture the battery. If all car companies could do that, many issues could be addressed without requiring the owner to bring the car in for service. What’s likely stopping that from happening is the fact there are laws in the US (and perhaps this would be true of other countries) that prevent an automaker from directly servicing a car without having a local dealer involved.
Clearly the issues surrounding the connected car as ones worth discussing. If you’re in the NYC area on June 24th, you might want to drop into the Connected Car Conference as these along with other topics relating to the connected car are sure to be discussed.
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This entry was posted on June 20, 2014 at 6:52 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Automotive. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Interview: Doug Newcomb And His Thoughts On The Connected Car
Yesterday, I got the opportunity to interview Doug Newcomb who is an Automotive Technology Expert and the Chair and Co-producer of the upcoming Connected Car Conference (C3) at CE Week. The event that brings together relevant stakeholders and thought leaders from all industries involved with development of the connected car.
My first question was about hacking. Specifically, is there a legitimate fear that cars can be hacked and that would be dangerous for drivers. What Newcomb correctly points out is that while there will always be those who can and will hack a car to prove that it can be done, for most this will be nothing to worry about due to the fact that a lot of hackers are driven by a financial incentive. Thus there should be no worries about some hacker from Eastern Europe hacking your car. Having said that, there’s really noting that you can do to protect yourself from anyone who may be inclined to hack your car. At least not at the moment.
The next question revolved around privacy. There have been examples of companies like Tom Tom getting caught selling user data, GM collecting data from owners of OnStar equipped cars that didn’t subscribe to the service, or a Ford exec saying that his company knew when you were breaking the law (and later backtracking on that). Newcomb said that this is a legitimate concern and there needs to be clear privacy policies from car makers that describe what data a car company collects. Usually it’s in the form of some very fine print someplace where most people don’t look or it isn’t readily provided to owners. Car owners should also ask car companies and dealers for this information as well. Finally, they should read the owners manual as this info is likely buried in there some place. In terms of protecting your privacy, Newcomb’s advice is kind of old school. Erase your personal information before you sell the car. That includes the phonebook that your car downloads from your phone or the favourite places in the navigation system for example.
When it comes to security, Newcomb’s cynical journalist side thinks that car companies aren’t doing enough to ensure the security of cars. But the reality is likely that they’re doing just enough to make sure their products are secure. Though it would be nice if we as the general public could get a better idea about that instead of car companies tend to avoid answering the question directly and using the excuse that revealing their security plans would tip off the hackers as to what the are doing.
My final question was about whether there was one car company that was ahead of the rest in terms of making cars part of the Internet of things. The answer from Newcomb was Tesla. The electric car torchbearers can push software updates over the air to address issues on an as needed basis. That included ones to adjust the ride height of the car to address the issue where Teslas would catch fire if they hit an object on the road which would then puncture the battery. If all car companies could do that, many issues could be addressed without requiring the owner to bring the car in for service. What’s likely stopping that from happening is the fact there are laws in the US (and perhaps this would be true of other countries) that prevent an automaker from directly servicing a car without having a local dealer involved.
Clearly the issues surrounding the connected car as ones worth discussing. If you’re in the NYC area on June 24th, you might want to drop into the Connected Car Conference as these along with other topics relating to the connected car are sure to be discussed.
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This entry was posted on June 20, 2014 at 6:52 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Automotive. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.