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Yes, some connected-car apps in a recent U.S. study sent personal identifiers or location data to advertising, analytics and tracking companies. Northeastern University researchers working with Consumer Reports tested 30 companion apps and 21 vehicles; the findings describe that limited test sample, not every car, app version or driver. Researchers could inspect decrypted app traffic, but vehicle traffic was encrypted, so they could observe where vehicles connected—not the contents of those packets.
What the researchers found
The study, Automatic Transmission: An Empirical Study of Data Privacy in the Connected Vehicle Ecosystem, examined 21 late-model U.S.-market vehicles representing 19 brands and 30 companion apps. Testing took place from October 2024 through August 2025. The project describes its results as a snapshot that may not generalize beyond the vehicles, apps or U.S. market tested. Northeastern University study project
- 19 of the 21 tested vehicles contacted at least one third party over Wi-Fi.
- 11 of the 21 contacted at least one domain associated with advertising, tracking or analytics.
- 13 of the 21 contacted a Google-owned domain.
- 7 of the 30 tested apps transmitted personal data to advertising, tracking or analytics companies. Reported data included VINs, email addresses, phone numbers and location.
These are counts from the researchers’ test sample, not estimates of how common the behavior is across all cars on the road. A connection to a domain associated with tracking or analytics also does not, by itself, establish that data was sold or how a recipient used it. Help Net Security’s account of the study
Vehicle traffic and app traffic are different evidence
What the vehicle tests could show
Researchers routed vehicle Wi-Fi traffic through a Raspberry Pi access point and recorded destinations, packet volume and timing. They tested vehicles while idle, while using controls and infotainment, and while driving under controlled conditions. With 11 electric vehicles, they also used a Faraday tent to test whether blocking cellular communications changed the traffic visible over Wi-Fi.
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They could not decrypt the vehicles’ encrypted network traffic. The study therefore identifies destinations and traffic patterns, not the contents of every message sent by a vehicle. Its authors also describe the results as a lower bound because they could not inspect all cellular traffic or server-side sharing.
What the app tests could show
For companion apps, researchers used instrumented iPhones and a proxy to inspect decrypted app traffic. They logged in using vehicle-associated credentials, accepted permissions requested during testing and exercised available app functions. The observed flows reflect that test setup; they do not establish what every user sees under different permission choices, accounts or app versions.
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Pairing companion apps roughly doubled cumulative advertising, tracking and analytics exposure for most vehicles in the dataset. Some cases added more than two dozen tracker-associated domains. This is a comparison within the tested vehicles and apps, not a prediction for every pairing.
Examples of data flows reported in the tests
Help Net Security’s October 1, 2026 account of the study names these examples. They are observed app flows in the tested setup, not a claim that every user of a current app version has the same experience.
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- GM apps: myCadillac, myChevrolet, myBuick and myGMC transmitted VINs to Adobe, Acxiom, Contentsquare, FullStory, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Pinterest, Snap and Yahoo. All four sent the owner’s email to Adobe; three also sent it to Contentsquare. The report says myCadillac and myGMC sent location data to Contentsquare, myChevrolet sent location data to Adobe, and myGMC sent phone data to Contentsquare.
- HondaLink: sent VIN and precise location to Amplitude.
- MyNISSAN: sent VIN and email to Alchemer.
- Lincoln app: sent VIN to Contentsquare.
A VIN is a persistent vehicle identifier. The researchers raise the concern that linking it with other personal information could identify a vehicle or owner across contexts; the test does not prove that every recipient made such a link. The report notes that a VIN cannot be changed, unlike a phone advertising ID, which can be reset.
What privacy policies and company responses indicate
The report says the privacy policies it reviewed disclosed possible third-party sharing but did not name recipients or purposes. That distinction matters: a general disclosure may alert owners that sharing is possible without making specific recipients or observed data flows clear.
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The project says manufacturers were informed of the findings and describes Honda as an exception that improved its practices to prevent sending precise geolocation to a tracking-associated third party. Help Net Security reports that Honda asked Amplitude to delete location data and changed HondaLink to stop sending geolocation after the findings were disclosed. These reported changes do not establish what controls or data flows exist in every current app or market.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What owners can do—and what the study does not establish
The findings are a reason to review connected services, but they do not identify a single setting that stops all sharing. Whether a permission, privacy choice or account control changes a particular data flow depends on the make, model, app version and jurisdiction; the study did not provide a current, model-by-model controls inventory.
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- Review the privacy notice and in-app privacy or connected-services settings for your specific vehicle and app. Look for what data is collected, the stated purposes, third-party disclosures and available choices.
- Check phone-level permissions for the companion app, especially location, and consider whether each permission is needed for the feature you use. Do not assume changing a phone permission blocks data sent by the vehicle or all app sharing.
- If you no longer use remote features, review whether you can disconnect the app or close its account, and ask the manufacturer what data is retained or shared. Confirm the effect with the manufacturer rather than assuming account removal deletes all associated data.
- Revisit the settings and notice after app updates or changes to connected services. The study is a snapshot, and its results do not describe every current version.
How to read the findings
The central distinction is between evidence of a connection and evidence of what happened to data. The vehicle tests establish that many vehicles in this sample contacted third-party domains, but encryption prevented researchers from reading those vehicle payloads. The app tests exposed specific data sent by some apps to named recipients. Neither observation alone demonstrates a sale, a recipient’s later use, or an identical experience for all owners.
A separate issue should not be conflated with these network observations: Help Net Security reported on May 12, 2026 that GM agreed to a $12.75 million California settlement concerning allegations of unlawfully selling drivers’ location and behavioral data. The report said the settlement was subject to court approval at that time. That matter concerns separate allegations and is not a finding from the Northeastern app study. Help Net Security report on the California settlement
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