[ahrens]

I can't see anything identifying the car or driver? And it only sends it to RSS-feeds the driver is subscribing too? It should be in the manual, so that the owner knows it's happening, but I don't see much risk in it as long as the car isn't identified. It just says "there is a car here, going there". It can be used for so many great things, like diverting traffic to low volume areas, alert the driver to accidents and so forth. Be sure to only subscribe to feeds you trust. We are alreadytracked in so many ways eith our phones and cameras all over, this doesn't add any huge disadvantage as far a I can see.

[biot]

A car that always leaves the same residence at 8:00 AM and arrives at the same business at 8:35 AM is trivial to correlate with a specific driver. From there, use your imagination as to how this information can be abused.

[hugh3]

Anyone capable of getting access to the database is probably capable of getting some guys in a car to follow you round all day though, right?

[biot]

Why bother following people if you can just pull several years worth of detailed driving records on thousands of drivers at a time?

[ahrens]

It's not without problems, sure we will be more vulnerable to somebody attacking the datastores keeping these locations. But honestly, so much data is stored about us already, this is not a bit enough leap to provoke a big outrage. It's just another piece of the monitoring puzzle, and a small piece at that. When I check my iPhone for apps using location service, I find ones that shouldn't need it, like "cut the rope", "dropbox" and "HuffPost". I also find services that really need my location to add value, like AirBnB and Tripit. When we start sharing our location, we get access to new services that can help our lives and we also expose our selves. If you don't think location services can add value to your life, buy another car and disable location sharing in your phone. If you do like the services that enhance your life with location services, enable it and learn to live with the fact that somebody might be able to figure out your movement habits. It's a tradeoff like everything in security.

[randallsquared]

...the database of their own RSS feed webserver? By picking up the current location at the various times someone's car hits your server on that morning commute just mentioned, you could probably map out the commute in detail within a few weeks.

[rainnw]

No need to map it out, as the LEAF provides the current or last navigation destination lat/lon in the request as well! Most LEAF drivers will probably have something programmed in, as the car provides range information and traffic re-routing functions based on destination.