4 ms·

How does a car figure out your sexual behaviour? Does it ask you?

hkt 3y ago
One assumes the car can see or hear the passengers and infer that from how often you use it together. Otherwise they'd have to have literally invented a gaydar and that just seems like a weird thing for car manufacturers to be investing in.
mdp2021 3y ago
Microphones and cameras in the car; geolocation...
haltist 3y ago
Statistical algorithms can be used to segment drivers and if it is possible to figure out that someone in some segment is of a specific orientation then the probability that others in that segments are of the same orientation goes up as well. People are extremely predictable, if they weren't then Google and Facebook would not be making billions from selling ads using user segmentation. Amazon and Netlfix operate similarly, buyers and viewers are shown content based on their previous browsing habits and what others with similar patterns have bought and viewed in the past. If you can recommend content and ads better than a coin toss then you can make a lot of money. I'm not sure why car companies want to sell driving patterns but if it can be used in some ad model to improve click through rates then I'm sure that Facebook and Google will be more than happy to buy the data to help their bottom line. We all live in digital panopticons designed to sell us consumer products but most people are either unaware or don't care about what such a state of affairs entails. It's better to just assume that eventually all data feeds will be integrated into some ad model because that is where things are headed. Further dystopian extrapolations of constant and ubiquitous surveillance are left as exercises for the reader.
- somerandomqaguy 3y ago
  I don't think it's just the driving pattern. GM is actively trying to come up with it's own App ecosystem: https://developer.gm.com/in-vehicle-apps https://developer.gm.com/in-vehicle-apps https://developer.gm.com/app-gallery https://developer.gm.com/app-gallery Subaru at least also has driver facing cameras into the cabin for driver attentiveness monitoring. I believe the Mach E also has it but I don't remember right off the top of my head, and I'm sure there's others as well.
  - haltist 3y ago
    Digital storage density is increasing and most developed nations have 5G deployments. I imagine the ad models could probably be updated in real time because neither storage nor bandwidth are real bottlenecks so if you are frustrated during your drive by the time you get home Google and friends already know what products to show you in order to increase sales. Truly marvelous times to be alive.
greggsy 3y ago
An online service could ask m/f/other during signup, then collect other information through tracking. I’m not aware of a specific in-car use case today, but I could imagine some personalisation feature asking you in the future.
fragmede 3y ago
It doesn't have to be 100% accurate, it only needs to get it right, across the whole market, just enough for advertising preferences, so they can make money off of it. In this case, if you are a woman, and you drive a Subaru, your sexual orientation is towards other women.
nitwit005 3y ago
The article includes an inquiry about this: > It’s unclear if or how these automakers might be doing such things. “Kia does not and has never collected ‘sex life or sexual orientation’ information from vehicles or consumers in the context of providing the Kia Connect Services,” says Kia spokesperson James Bell. He adds that the brand includes the category in its privacy policy to define “sensitive personal information” under the California Consumer Privacy Act. Nissan spokesperson Brian Brockman similarly says, “Nissan does not knowingly collect or disclose consumer information on sexual activity or sexual orientation,” and adds that state laws such as California’s require the company to disclose inadvertent information that might be inferred from other data such as location tracking. It sounds like they list everything, because anything might be inferable somehow.

hkt 3y ago

One assumes the car can see or hear the passengers and infer that from how often you use it together. Otherwise they'd have to have literally invented a gaydar and that just seems like a weird thing for car manufacturers to be investing in.

mdp2021 3y ago

Microphones and cameras in the car; geolocation...

haltist 3y ago

Statistical algorithms can be used to segment drivers and if it is possible to figure out that someone in some segment is of a specific orientation then the probability that others in that segments are of the same orientation goes up as well. People are extremely predictable, if they weren't then Google and Facebook would not be making billions from selling ads using user segmentation. Amazon and Netlfix operate similarly, buyers and viewers are shown content based on their previous browsing habits and what others with similar patterns have bought and viewed in the past. If you can recommend content and ads better than a coin toss then you can make a lot of money. I'm not sure why car companies want to sell driving patterns but if it can be used in some ad model to improve click through rates then I'm sure that Facebook and Google will be more than happy to buy the data to help their bottom line. We all live in digital panopticons designed to sell us consumer products but most people are either unaware or don't care about what such a state of affairs entails. It's better to just assume that eventually all data feeds will be integrated into some ad model because that is where things are headed. Further dystopian extrapolations of constant and ubiquitous surveillance are left as exercises for the reader.

somerandomqaguy 3y ago
I don't think it's just the driving pattern. GM is actively trying to come up with it's own App ecosystem: https://developer.gm.com/in-vehicle-apps https://developer.gm.com/in-vehicle-apps https://developer.gm.com/app-gallery https://developer.gm.com/app-gallery Subaru at least also has driver facing cameras into the cabin for driver attentiveness monitoring. I believe the Mach E also has it but I don't remember right off the top of my head, and I'm sure there's others as well.
- haltist 3y ago
  Digital storage density is increasing and most developed nations have 5G deployments. I imagine the ad models could probably be updated in real time because neither storage nor bandwidth are real bottlenecks so if you are frustrated during your drive by the time you get home Google and friends already know what products to show you in order to increase sales. Truly marvelous times to be alive.

greggsy 3y ago

An online service could ask m/f/other during signup, then collect other information through tracking. I’m not aware of a specific in-car use case today, but I could imagine some personalisation feature asking you in the future.

fragmede 3y ago

It doesn't have to be 100% accurate, it only needs to get it right, across the whole market, just enough for advertising preferences, so they can make money off of it. In this case, if you are a woman, and you drive a Subaru, your sexual orientation is towards other women.

nitwit005 3y ago

The article includes an inquiry about this: > It’s unclear if or how these automakers might be doing such things. “Kia does not and has never collected ‘sex life or sexual orientation’ information from vehicles or consumers in the context of providing the Kia Connect Services,” says Kia spokesperson James Bell. He adds that the brand includes the category in its privacy policy to define “sensitive personal information” under the California Consumer Privacy Act. Nissan spokesperson Brian Brockman similarly says, “Nissan does not knowingly collect or disclose consumer information on sexual activity or sexual orientation,” and adds that state laws such as California’s require the company to disclose inadvertent information that might be inferred from other data such as location tracking. It sounds like they list everything, because anything might be inferable somehow.