Ford Privacy Promise: no selling driving data to brokers or insurers

Ford has published a Privacy Promise for its connected cars, stating plainly that it does not sell data about how you drive to data brokers or insurance companies. The pledge, signed by chief privacy officer Kristin Jones, arrives days after General Motors agreed to pay $220 million to settle state claims over driver data that ended up with insurers, Ford announced on 2 November.

What Ford collects and why

Ford lists the connected-vehicle data it uses as diagnostics, driving characteristics and location. It says the data powers connected services such as embedded navigation, traffic and roadside assistance, helps it troubleshoot problems and develop products, and is used to personalise offers. Where possible, Ford says it anonymises or aggregates data.

How to change your settings

A new Privacy Promise website explains the practices and shows owners how to adjust sharing either on the car's centre display or in the Ford App. You can opt out of connected data sharing completely, but Ford warns that BlueCruise, internet connectivity and vehicle location in the app then stop working. Resources for Lincoln owners, Canada and Mexico are due in the coming weeks.

What the promise does not cover

The wording is about selling. As The Verge notes, a blog post is not a contract: Ford's privacy policy and connected-vehicle terms still allow sharing with service providers or for legal requests, and opt-in programmes such as usage-based insurance work on driver consent. If you signed up for one of those, check its settings separately.

Car data is now as sensitive as phone data. If you are thinking about connected features in your next car, our guide to self-driving levels explains what systems like BlueCruise actually do.