Car drivers' privacy concerns and trust perceptions

TL;DR

This study explores car drivers' privacy concerns and trust perceptions regarding in-vehicle data collection and cybersecurity, revealing modest awareness and trust levels that highlight the need for better information and security measures.

Contribution

It provides empirical insights into drivers' privacy concerns and trust perceptions, emphasizing the importance of awareness campaigns and human-centered cybersecurity solutions.

Findings

Privacy concerns are modest due to low awareness.

Trust in cyber-security is lower than trust in safety.

Drivers demand better information and security measures.

Abstract

Modern cars are evolving in many ways. Technologies such as infotainment systems and companion mobile applications collect a variety of personal data from drivers to enhance the user experience. This paper investigates the extent to which car drivers understand the implications for their privacy, including that car manufacturers must treat that data in compliance with the relevant regulations. It does so by distilling out drivers' concerns on privacy and relating them to their perceptions of trust on car cyber-security. A questionnaire is designed for such purposes to collect answers from a set of 1101 participants, so that the results are statistically relevant. In short, privacy concerns are modest, perhaps because there still is insufficient general awareness on the personal data that are involved, both for in-vehicle treatment and for transmission over the Internet. Trust perceptions on cyber-security are modest too (lower than those on car safety), a surprising contradiction to our research hypothesis that privacy concerns and trust perceptions on car cyber-security are opponent. We interpret this as a clear demand for information and awareness-building campaigns for car drivers, as well as for technical cyber-security and privacy measures that are truly considerate of the human factor.