Just days after General Motors agreed to settle a lawsuit over selling customers' data without their consent, Ford announced a new "Privacy Promise" policy.
In a statement shared on a new website from the manufacturer, Ford promised owners that they are in the driver's seat when it comes to their data. The site offers guidance on data sharing and collection and how to deactivate and opt out of sharing various types of data, whether on the automaker's webpages, in its app or within the car itself.
"We design and build our products with privacy in mind — from collection of data to its use and storage and even disposal. This can include privacy-enhancing technologies like anonymizing or aggregating data to further protect your privacy," the statement began.
"We strive to provide clear and easy-to-understand information about how we use your personal information. This empowers you to navigate your privacy choices with confidence. Once you make those choices, we respect your decision," the statement continued.
Ford
Calling the move the "right thing to do," Ford shared that its updated vehicle privacy settings will allow users "to control what data you want to share, subject to the features and services you wish to enjoy."
"We also never sell data about how you drive your vehicle to data brokers," Ford maintained, a sticking point following General Motors' lawsuit, which saw the Ford rival agree to pay $200 million in a settlement with 36 states following the incident, after it illegally sold drivers' personal information to third parties without their consent, per a Washington State release regarding the suit.
As much as Ford said it acknowledged user privacy, it noted that after surveying just over 1,000 Ford customers, it found customers also "understand the value of data sharing" and want to be the ones making the ultimate decision when it comes to what they want to share.
"A value our survey respondents kept returning to was control: the ability to adjust their settings on demand and in detail," Ford added.
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But, as automotive outlet The Drive notes, there is no one place to turn everything off, forcing Ford owners to do lots of reading and searching to fully opt out of data sharing and customize their Ford experience.
While some found the timing of Ford's new website launch uncoincidental amid its longtime feud with GM, in a statement to TechCrunch, Ford's chief privacy officer Kristin Jones said she wouldn't be commenting "on what our competitors are doing, or anything that's sort of been in the news."
She did say, however, that as more and more consumers grow wary of whether companies will "take care with their data," Ford wants to make sure it's "building that trust relationship with them."
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