The vast majority (88%) of car drivers in Germany want the right to decide what happens to the data from their own vehicle. This is the finding of a representative Germany-wide survey by forsa on behalf of the expert organization DEKRA.
- The vast majority (88%) want control of their own vehicle data
- Nearly half of the car drivers surveyed are worried about data misuse
- 80% believe that self-driving cars will become established
So far, there are no statutory regulations to govern what is done with the data that can be gathered in vehicles regarding vehicle condition or driving style, for instance. In conjunction with the forsa institute, DEKRA asked 1,007 car drivers throughout Germany how this data on the vehicle and the driver should be handled.
The respondents emphatically rejected driver transparency. According to 88% of them, the vehicle owner should be able to decide what happens to the vehicle data, i.e. which organization or authority can access and use what type of data. In addition, 38% think that this right should also be granted to the respective driver if they are not the vehicle owner, e.g. in the case of hire cars.
The vast majority (72%) do not want others – a workshop, an insurance firm, or the authorities – to find out about their driving style, for instance. By contrast, most of the car drivers (63%) would be happy for the workshop or manufacturer to draw their attention to essential repairs through access to vehicle data.
Just under half (46%) are worried that others will spy on them through access to data: in other words, that their driving behavior will be analyzed or their vehicle could be hacked, compromising their safety when driving.
Furthermore, the vast majority of respondents (80%) assume that fully automated cars that drive entirely independently will become established sooner or later. 42% expect this to be the case in the next 10 to 20 years. 26% think that it will come about later, while 12% believe that fully automated driving will become reality in the near future (in less than ten years).
