Cars now record more personal data than ever before. This is useful while you own them; it provides added functionality. But when it’s time to sell, that same information can potentially be used against you.
So, why is personal data a problem, and how can you remove it before you sell your car?
Why Should You Remove Your Personal Data From a Vehicle?
Depending on how long you’ve had your vehicle, you might be surprised to learn just how many places your personal data has been stored. The value of this data varies widely. It might tell the new owner your driving preferences, or it might allow them to steal your cash.
Personal data in sufficient quantities can be used for identity theft. Small amounts of information cannot be used for this purpose, but it can still be used to impersonate you, access your private accounts, and perform social engineering against you.
Social engineering often involves contacting the victim and pretending to be somebody else in order to gain something. Naturally, the more information is known about the victim, the easier this is.
Who Can Access Your Personal Data?
Personal data on a car is primarily a problem when you sell a car you own. The new buyer may decide to access the information, or the car may be broken down into parts, and one of the parts might be resold.
If you lease a car, the issue isn’t any better. The company employees should not be trusted to delete the data for you and may even access it themselves. Many people even leave their data on short-term rentals.
It’s worth noting that this data is also available to anybody who borrows your vehicle. This includes valets and anybody who services your vehicle. Deleting data in these scenarios isn’t practical, but you should log out of your accounts.
8 Ways to Remove Your Personal Data From a Vehicle
Removing personal data from a vehicle isn’t particularly difficult. The primary reason people leave their data is that they are not aware that they are doing so. Here are eight things to do before handing over your vehicle.
1. Perform a Factory Reset
Some cars have a factory reset option. If you’re not sure, it’s worth going through the manual or contacting the manufacturer to find out. It’s important to note that even if your car does provide this feature, it doesn’t necessarily remove all data. It’s still recommended to go through your vehicle and check the other items individually.
2. Remove GPS Data
GPS is useful, but in the wrong hands, it also provides a lot of information about you. Before selling your vehicle, you should remove any of your saved routes, favorite places, and driving history. This information not only says where you live but when you are unlikely to be there. A particularly motivated thief could also follow you to a place where it’s easy to rob you.
3. Remove Bluetooth Pairings
Bluetooth is difficult to use against you but could theoretically be used to access one of your devices. Depending on the device, this could then be used to access one of your accounts. This obviously requires the new owner to be close to a device you own. But if you haven’t removed your GPS information, they know exactly where to go.
4. Delete Your Contacts
Your contacts are potentially valuable because the buyer knows your name and may contact one of them and impersonate you. They can also use your call history to pick a good time. Most people don’t store this information in their vehicle deliberately, but many vehicles will add your contacts automatically when you plug in your phone using a USB port.
5. Remove Garage Access
Anything that allows your vehicle to access your home should be removed. Vehicles are often set to open garage doors at the press of a button, and this is ideal for a dishonest buyer. This is obviously made worse if you’ve sold your vehicle at your home or didn’t remove your GPS information.
6. Log Out of In Vehicle Apps
If you use any apps on your car, you should make sure that you are logged out. You should also check that your username and password aren’t added automatically when you attempt to log in. Some apps aren’t particularly important, but mobile payment apps are popular in cars, and this could provide a route to your bank account.
7. Wipe and Remove Storage Drives
If your car has any type of hard drive, this should be wiped before you sell or return the lease. You should also check any removable storage slots, such as SD card readers. USB drives are particularly important to look out for. They are often added to play music but may also have personal information.
8. Remove Physical Items
Most people remove all physical items from their car before they sell, but it’s worth noting because it’s easy to miss a few items. The obvious documents are usually stored in the glove compartment, but you should also look underneath the seats and other small areas. You’re basically aiming to remove anything with your name and address or financial information.
Personal Data on Vehicles is a New Problem
It’s easy to leave personal data on a vehicle because up until recently, there wasn’t any data to delete. Cars used to be anonymous outside of their registration details.
However, if you’re selling a vehicle now, it’s important to understand that you’re pretty much selling a computer that you have been using daily. This makes vehicles easier to use, but it also poses a privacy risk.
This data isn’t difficult to remove, and in doing so, you avoid the risk of it ever being used against you.
