TomTom gave driving data to cops

Pixel · 28 Apr 2011 at 15:33

TomTom sold off user-data, that is sent back to them from each person's sat-nav, to the police in the Netherlands. The police then used that data to set up speed traps in the areas where most users went over the speed limit.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/04/27/tomtom_customer_data_flap/

I'll personally be avoiding TomTom in the future, I don't see what right they have to take information about what speed their users are doing in the first place, never mind selling that data off willy-nilly.

therealnerd2 · 28 Apr 2011 at 15:35

Yes that sounds very naughty :|

Mr Jack · 28 Apr 2011 at 15:39

Pixel said:
I'll personally be avoiding TomTom in the future, I don't see what right they have to take information about what speed their users are doing in the first place

You can opt-in to reporting back this kind of data. It is used by Tom-Tom to create time-sensitive data on real world speeds along roads. This data is then used to give more accurate time estimates and better route recommendations.

never mind selling that data off willy-nilly.

High quality data on average speeds and usage through the road network has many obvious and legitimate uses. This kind of use is out of order though.

NathWraith · 28 Apr 2011 at 15:41

Glad I don't have a TomTom

Philz0r · 28 Apr 2011 at 15:43

my sat nav is about 6mph off my pace. but its a navigon (think thats how its spelt).

Sin_Chase · 28 Apr 2011 at 15:59

It's anonymous data and supposedly TomTom were not aware it was being used for such purposes and aims to avoid such use in the future.

Police are crowdsourcing what they could do in another way, probably costs them less - tax payer would end up paying more for the same outcome.

postmanfw · 28 Apr 2011 at 16:30

Dont go over speed limit?

Problem sorted

mrk · 28 Apr 2011 at 16:53

postmanfw said:
Dont go over speed limit?

Problem sorted

There's always one!

Cosimo · 28 Apr 2011 at 17:03

Well it's been selling data all the time:

TomTom sells data to governments around the world but said the Netherlands was the only place in which it had been used by the police. TomTom asks customers for their permission to collect data when they log onto the company’s website to update their GPS devices. It says it receives billions of driving measurements each day from tens of millions of customers across Europe and North America.

The data collection bit is probably somewhere in their T&Cs.

UrbanTerror · 28 Apr 2011 at 18:49

Hmmm bit 'off' isnt it.

Good job speed camera's save lives though *ahem*

loltim · 28 Apr 2011 at 19:04

meh, are they going to last much longer anyway? with google nav being free etc.

SB118 · 28 Apr 2011 at 19:05

Philz0r said:
my sat nav is about 6mph off my pace. but its a navigon (think thats how its spelt).

Or is your speedo 6mph out ...... :eek:

mrk · 28 Apr 2011 at 19:08

loltim said:
meh, are they going to last much longer anyway? with google nav being free etc.

Depends, are all those iPhone users going to switch to Android?

Ryan-3 · 28 Apr 2011 at 19:09

therealnerd2 said:
Yes that sounds very naughty :|

Mind, if it shows a history of where the cars been, and at what time, its rather easy to find out if the other half is having an affair

& no, iPhone users hate Android

loltim · 28 Apr 2011 at 19:20

Khaaan! said:
Depends, are all those iPhone users going to switch to Android?

Won't be long before Apple make a gps app, surely.

Dave L · 2 May 2011 at 19:06

This sucks ass.