There are two different points of view to handling data and information.

• According to McKinsey & Co, revenue from using car data will exceed USD $1.5 trillion by 2030. Since the cost of the data is zero, the profit from retaining the car’s data will be $1.5 trillion in just over 10 years. This means a car maker (the OEM) will make more profit from the data than it gets than from selling the car.

• Others believe that the data of a person belongs to that person and NOBODY can use it for profit or any other purpose without their explicit and informed approval.

Trillions of dollars are at stake.

With AV cars the conversation is cloudy.

• The OEM has a duty to ensure that their cars are both running well and safely. This duty, part of the OEM’s liability, cannot be fulfilled unless the OEM has the data.

• But in an AV the data takes a personal nature: Where did the passenger go? What did they do? And so on.

• The insurance company who supplies the insurance for the car and its passenger(s) have a right to see the data. Or do they?

We, as an OEM, think that the starting point is:

• We, as the OEM, will have possession of all of the data. We will ensure it is not misused by anybody.

• Other than making the cars safer, we have an obligation to get the owner’s permission before using the data for any other use.