> As part of the agreement an automaker would have to enter with Google, Porsche said certain pieces of data must be collected and transmitted back to Mountain View, California. Stuff like vehicle speed, throttle position, coolant and oil temp, engine revs—basically Google wants a complete OBD2 dump whenever someone activates Android Auto.
> Google, for its part, disputes some of our source's assertions. Liz Markman, a Google spokesperson for Android Auto, said in a statement that Google does not collect some of the data listed by Porsche, such as throttle position and coolant temp. She declined to provide a full list of what data is collected, but emphasized that Android Auto users must opt in to share any information upon their first connection of their phone to a car. She said some of that data is used for safety (restricting typing and allowing only voice input when the car is not in "park," for example) and some is to used to optimize the app's user experience.
So seems like Android Auto requires at least some data from the car, as of 2015. Porsche ended up adding it in 2022, though, so maybe they stopped fighting that battle.
I'm not sure which I want less - the phone company getting data from my car, or the car company getting data from the phone.
Its a shame that OBD2 information would be shared with Google, but not the driver. I would like to see performance data on my car in real time that is more comprehensive than what is displayed on the dash. Also, restricting typing and voice input only are two of the biggest annoyances I have with carplay. It would be easier to let me stop at a light and type or pinch and zoom for maps, but the car monitor is very, very limited compared with using an iPad. If they remove these features, I'll just get a computer stand with place it over the monitor in my next car.
This must vary with manufacturer. The CarPlay in my vehicle never restricts input. I can even manipulate the CarPlay with my Apple Watch, which feels much more dangerous than using a phone. Not sure why that’s a thing.
This doesn't surprise me. My observation with Google product teams partnering is that they start from the assumption that the price of working with them is whatever data they want.
Pushback = "Fine, we won't do a deal"
Felt like watching railroads negotiate with local government.
I doubt very seriously that Apple lost any sales and there were third party apps like Mapquest that offered real time directions before the Maps app had them at all.
Oh dear... I never thought it was that bad... Well, one more reason to stick with simple USB or Bluetooth connections for calls and music in cars and never even remotely touch Android Auto or something similar. If it is a piece of hardware, I want to own it. No subscriptions, no phoning home for ehatever reason (as a functional requirement for said hardware or legal reason, well, not much choice here). If someone needs and wants OBD data from my cars, they'll have to plug in I guess. And I don't have any issue with garages doing it for diagnostics. Over the air, through my phone, to Google, just for me to stream music? No way!
All I hope now is, that your plain old Bluetooth connection doesn't do anything like that... If it wasn't for economic reasons (read: dreadfully bad MPG), my 40 year old Range Rover would propably be my daily driver one day, good luck getting tracking data out of that car!
If that's the case, how are 3rd-party head units allowed to use AA? I know for an absolute fact that mine recieves exactly zero data from the car outside a simple +12v signal that tells the radio to turn on/off. Do aftermarket radios exist that require a CAN connection? If so, how could they even be certain the radio even 'understands' the flavour of CAN being used by the car? How about more modern cars that have their CAN systems near-completely locked down?
I would imagine that Google's negotiations with, say, Pioneer are different than theirs with GM.
If Google (or Apple) thinks that having it onboard is gonna be worth some data sharing, or whatever else they want, to the manufacturer they're gonna push for that even if they have different terms for aftermarket equipment. "Just buy an aftermarket radio" isn't really a good marketing campaign for an auto manufacturer to make up for a lack of the integration, after all.
Well, that and the fact that no manufacturer ships a double-DIN hole in the dash any more, so it's pretty much impossible to get an aftermarket head unit. That said, there was one Chinese Android-based unit that was made for the 3rd-gen Mazda 3, replacement screen on the dash and everything.
Not to disagree, but as I recall it, the big problem with modular head units was that people would just break into cars and steal them. Having your car radio stolen was fairly common when I was a kid.
Lol, you believe apple actually cares about your privacy?
No mainstream phone does, want a true privacy-respecting and usable phone? Buy a pixel and install grapheneOS on it.
Wouldn't it be great if cars would just send the car data out to phones?
People already have a very well configured device hooked up to all kind of extras with them in their pocket. I don't really known what Android Auto or CarPlay offer but my weak understanding is it's mostly a dumb screen & display... Maybe a microphone? If hvac & lighting & other auxiliary systems were also controllable some really pleasant well integrated experiences could be made.
And also the people riding in the back would have a much easier time being able to DJ.
Alas any and all data integrations imply they will almost immediately be used for a the worst ends. The old EU funded Webinos IoT system had a really neat pro-user model, and they had some OK car based demoes too before they closed up. There's just so little places where trust can even start today, & comparatively webinos was such a solid trustful/trustable go.
Android Automotive sounds it is it's own infotainment. I guess I'm more interested in getting the data out to users, to consume & use in different creative ways.
I thought webinos was so cool because it was a really interesting platform for exposing capabilites to users, who could then give different apps & services access. It was both a competent IoT platform, & one that effectively through encryption basically sent all data over VPN to the user, who then figured out what to do with it.
So far my experience with Android Automotive has been a deal breaker. I rented a Polestar for a week and it felt like I was driving an android phone. Absolutely not interested.
Car manufacturers don't want to get muscled out of "their" own market. It's like ISPs not being willing to be a dumb pipe and instead trying to upsell a dozen other services (bundled TV/phone subscriptions, ad blocking, etc).
They don't have to stop the crappy behavior because where are you going to go? Most addresses in the US have no more than one reasonable ISP available (some have zero). I'm just hoping that all the other car manufacturers don't rally around GM and announce they're all doing the same thing to try to capture/generate subscription revenue from their low-margin products.
> CarPlay and AndroidAuto don’t give the car any access to the phone data
Perhaps that's changed. There have been warnings about using AndroidAuto and CarPlay with rental cars for years. Now that cars are increasingly collecting data and sending it home themselves, any info your personal car has collected from your phone or usage can be sent back too.
> In addition, the forensic artifacts acquired in each analysis area show that the forensic artifacts obtainable in IVI systems using Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are not limited to the internal storage in a mobile device. As such, a digital forensic examination of various elements constituting the IVI system is a useful addition to vehicle forensics. An increasing number of people are using Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and more vehicles and manufacturers are sup-porting these systems. The proposed forensic methodology and the acquired artifacts can be applied as an important basis for future vehicle crime investigations.
> There’s no worry about CarPlay revealing any of your information to later car renters
And the NIH study just says there has not been any research done on the issue yet.
The issue isn't with Android Auto/CarPlay, but the legacy Bluetooth features that give the car access to your phonebook and SMS logs. You need to make sure to decline those when connecting your phone.
> As part of the agreement an automaker would have to enter with Google, Porsche said certain pieces of data must be collected and transmitted back to Mountain View, California. Stuff like vehicle speed, throttle position, coolant and oil temp, engine revs—basically Google wants a complete OBD2 dump whenever someone activates Android Auto.
> Google, for its part, disputes some of our source's assertions. Liz Markman, a Google spokesperson for Android Auto, said in a statement that Google does not collect some of the data listed by Porsche, such as throttle position and coolant temp. She declined to provide a full list of what data is collected, but emphasized that Android Auto users must opt in to share any information upon their first connection of their phone to a car. She said some of that data is used for safety (restricting typing and allowing only voice input when the car is not in "park," for example) and some is to used to optimize the app's user experience.
So seems like Android Auto requires at least some data from the car, as of 2015. Porsche ended up adding it in 2022, though, so maybe they stopped fighting that battle.
I'm not sure which I want less - the phone company getting data from my car, or the car company getting data from the phone.