Although a lot of the media, more particularly the blogosphere, talks about the benefits of self-driving cars and hypes it like cryptocurrency is still being now, or the dot-com boom of the early 2000s, they also talk about the winners and losers in hypothetical scenarios where self-driving cars exist, such as police, car dealers etc.
But I'm going to turn the spotlight on an issue that's not as often discussed; privacy.
People think Big Tech is a hot button issue. Justifiably so, what with the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Russian involvement in the 2016 U.S. elections, self-harm etc. but for self-driving cars, it goes beyond the "we collect customer data" role.
With your traditional human-driven car, little data was collected, at least in the past anyway; it was a case of buy it in the showroom, pay for it in cash or via finance, lease it etc. but with car-sharing and subscription in the picture, it's a lot more different.
Does anyone think that self-driving cars could become a privacy nightmare and more of a dystopia than utopia?
I'm not a fan of them, partially for privacy reasons (I can see ACLU having a field day with this), but also it being controversial towards automotive fandom, even those who own other vehicles than cars, motorcyclists etc.
I mean, who'd want a self-driving Ferrari or Lamborghini worth $500k? Probably no-one, as it'd go against the nature of the brand.
I can't see millionaires who enjoy sports cars liking the idea of self-driving cars.
Politicians already treat the motorist as their own punching bag and piggybank, the feared future of human drivers banned from the road, Elon Musk speculating it, inaccurate or too ahead of its time?
Do you think the privacy issues of self-driving cars are an overlooked issue and should be given greater prominence?
