BMW's New EV App: A Privacy Nightmare?
Clever EV App or Privacy Nightmare?
BMW's latest app update includes a unique new electric vehicle analysis tool. Using real driving data, BMW's new app feature shows how an electric vehicle (EV) could fit into a driver's lifestyle. While this new feature is a clever way to highlight how few regular journeys actually require a stop to charge an EV battery pack, it can also pose a huge privacy concern.
Key Features of the New BMW App
- The new feature is called Electric Vehicle Analysis.
- It works with combustion BMWs that have the company's Operating System 7.
- The app uses real driving data to simulate how an EV would perform on a driver's typical journeys.
- It shows how often the driver would need to charge the EV and where the nearest charging stations are.
Privacy Concerns with the New BMW App
The Electric Vehicle Analysis feature collects a lot of data about a driver's driving habits. This data includes:
- The time and date of each journey.
- The starting and ending location of each journey.
- The distance traveled on each journey.
- The average speed on each journey.
- The acceleration and braking patterns on each journey.
This data can be used to create a detailed profile of a driver's driving habits. This profile could be used to target the driver with personalized advertising or to track their movements. BMW has stated that the data collected by the Electric Vehicle Analysis feature is anonymized and will not be used to identify individual drivers. However, it is important to note that anonymized data can still be used to track individuals if it is combined with other data sources.
How to Protect Your Privacy
If you are concerned about the privacy implications of the Electric Vehicle Analysis feature, you can disable it in the app's settings. You can also limit the data that the app collects by turning off location tracking or by not connecting the app to your BMW vehicle.
Conclusion
The Electric Vehicle Analysis feature is a clever way to highlight how few regular journeys actually require a stop to charge an EV battery pack. However, it also comes with some privacy concerns. If you are concerned about your privacy, you should disable the feature or limit the data that it collects.
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