Latest news with #ChevySuburban
Motor 1
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Motor 1
‘I Legit Have Nightmares:' Customer Buys Chevy Suburban From Dealership. Then She Runs Into This Issue 3 Weeks Later
A mom shared scary footage of her Chevy Suburban's brakes allegedly failing while she was on the road, just three weeks after buying it. Tiffany Maillet (@upholsterygirl239) uploaded the viral clip on TikTok, where it accrued over 5.9 million views. In it, her evident panic was captured in the moment, along with how she worked with an officer to get her car to stop. The mother of five writes in a text overlay that's visible from the onset of her video, 'Just got a Chevy Suburban from the Chevy Dealership and experienced something out of my nightmares. I'm a mom of 5 kids and I HAVE to have my car. I just paid for summer camp for Monday. Today is my son's birthday. This is so awful.' Her TikTok shows dashcam footage recorded while she's on the road. Next, she suddenly makes an exclamation that would make any driver's heart sink and stomach churn: 'My, my, my car's not braking! My car's not braking!' The vehicle in front of her appears to come to a stop, its red brake lights engaged. Suburban Brake Failure On the TikToker's dashcam, she can be seen lurching ahead, nearing the stopped vehicle. On the opposite side of the road, a white SUV with flashing emergency lights is parked. The car on the road in front of her slowly moves up, creating enough room for her to veer into the far left lane. It's separated by a concrete curb divider, which the TikToker careens toward as she honks her horn several times. 'It's not braking!' she says with a cracked, fearful voice. Following this, she drives up on the curb, stopping right beside the white SUV, which has the word 'Sheriff' written on the side. Once she's adjacent to the police officer's vehicle, she shouts out to the officer. 'My car won't brake! I'm pushing so hard on the pedal!' she says. Quickly, the law enforcement official informs her to 'put on the emergency brake.' She hesitates and then quickly asks, 'Where's the emergency brake?' He repeats again, 'emergency brake.' She states, 'I'm pushing so hard on my brake!' and as she does so, a radio can be heard going off in the background of the clip. Emergency Brake Engaged Next, it seems she's managed to locate the emergency braking mechanism while the officer exits his vehicle to assist her. 'This thing?' she asks, sniffling. 'Yes, push that down,' he says. The mom then tearfully says to her husband on the phone, 'I'm next to the cop right now,' before explaining what happened to her vehicle. 'I was stopped back at that stop sign, and ... I was holding the brake down, and it kind of felt like it crunched for a second.' The officer replies, 'Yeah.' She continues, 'And it just started sliding and it wouldn't stop going, and I'm like holding it down as hard as I could.' Then, she addresses her husband on the phone, 'Can you call your mom because she's behind me and I want her to know. All right, bye.' At the end of her video, she tells the officer that she just recently purchased the car 'three weeks ago.' What Should You Do If Your Brakes Fail? Ideally, no driver would ever have to deal with brake failure. However, there are methods folks can adhere to in order to safely bring their car to a stop in the event their brakes give out. First, commuters should attempt to pump their brakes in case they've locked up. In some cases, repeatedly engaging the brakes can 'unlock' them, bringing vehicles to a stop. If that doesn't work, defensive driving school iDriveSafely recommends immediately putting on one's hazard lights. This will alert others on the road to steer clear of your car. Following this, place your vehicle into a lower gear. Doing so will 'slow down your car.' Conversely, the outlet cautions against immediately placing the car in neutral. That's because it 'will take away the engine braking effect.' Consequently, one's car won't start to decelerate. Furthermore, instantly shutting off one's car will also disable power steering, making it harder to control. Once your car is slowing down, slowly guide it to an area away from regular traffic flow. This can be a shoulder, outlet, or slightly raised curve, or even on the outskirts of the left or right-most lane. Next, iDriveSafely recommends engaging the emergency brake. Often, this brake's engagement system is in the form of a lever located near the car's center console. Many vehicles place it in the form of a small pedal left of the standard brake, so be cognizant of where it is and how to activate your e-brake. Chevy Dealership Admits Fault Following her harrowing road incident, Maillet posted other videos pertaining to her experience. In this particular TikTok commenting on the situation, she shared the outcome of her correspondence with the dealership. According to her, the reason she wasn't able to stop was due to aftermarket brakes. Additionally, she says a service tech informed the sales team that the brakes would need to be swapped out prior to the sale for safety reasons. However, she says the sales manager didn't want to eat the cost of a brake swap. Ultimately, Maillet added that upon escalating the issue, the dealership admitted fault. At the end of her clip, Maillet speculated just how much more dangerous a situation she could've found herself in. 'I MEAN I COULD HAVE BEEN GOING 80 DOWN THE HIGHWAY AND MY FAMILY WAS AT RISK. complete negligence,' she writes in a text overlay. More on Dealerships 'This Is Why No One Wants to Work at Dealerships:' Mechanic Works on Audi With Nail in Tire. Then He Turns on the Computer Dealership Worker Is Oh-So-Close To Closing Car Sale. Then a Receptionist Ruins It In 1 Minute What Maillet found even more troubling was the fact that her five children were with her when she bought the car, meaning the sales team had no qualms with putting all of them in a vehicle that had potentially faulty brakes. 'I legit went to the dealership with my 5 kids and he still thought it was a good idea to stick me in the Suburban absolute shame on @chevrolet,' she writes in the caption. When Dealerships Give You a Dud Unfortunately, used car sales isn't exactly known to be the most scrupulous of vocations. But just because a car is previously owned doesn't mean buyers aren't legally protected by what Lemon Car Law refers to as 'implied warranties.' This effectively means 'the dealer guarantees the vehicle will function as it is supposed to,' the outlet states. However, there is some nomenclature to consider. If you purchase a vehicle 'as is' from a dealer, then you are assuming all liability for any repairs to the vehicle. This doesn't seem to be the case with Maillet's purchase, as she explained the Chevy dealership took responsibility for not swapping the brakes. But not everyone is so fortunate as to have purchased a car from a dealership that's willing to own up to its mistakes. And if you didn't enter an 'as-is' agreement and the dealership lies about any damage incurred to the vehicle, you could have a claim against it. Furthermore, as Lemon Car Law states, if integral components are compromised, then drivers could take legal action. There are several steps involved in this process. First, Lemon Car Law recommends contacting your state's consumer protection office. This will allow you to start a record of lodging a formal complaint against the dealership that sold you the vehicle. Moreover, lodging a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) may also help garner more attention to your claim. While possessing no legal authority, many companies take BBB ratings seriously. So, bad marks against the company could incentivize it to take action. Additionally, should your vehicle still fall under the manufacturer's base warranty, Lemon Car Law also suggests filing with the National Center for Dispute Settlement. Commenters React Maillet also narrated in the video, 'Just talked to the general manager of Chevy, and they told me they never should have sold me that car, and that they were in the wrong, and they're sorry.' Several folks who replied to her video concurred with the general manager's statement that the dealership was in the wrong. One user penned, 'You have a lawsuit!' urging Maillet to take legal action against the business. Another echoed this sentiment, stating their admittance of fault may ultimately assist with her claim: 'Call a lawyer - IMMEDIATELY! They just admitted fault and incompetence. Go get your coin.' 'Huge huge lawsuit. You cannot release a car with compromised brakes,' someone else wrote. Others on TikTok shared experiences working in auto sales that were similar to Maillet's close call. 'I hated doing used cars because of stuff like this. Sales only want to do enough to get it to roll off the lot. Who cares about customer safety right?' According to this user, refusal to perform component swaps is a common occurrence. 'Happens all the time. And the service department always gets the blame.' However, there was someone else who appeared confused about the hate directed toward third-party vehicle options. 'What's wrong with aftermarket Brakes? There are millions of cars/trucks on the road with non oem brakes on them and have no issues.' Motor1 has reached out to Maillet via TikTok comment for further information. The story will be updated should she respond. Now Trending 'I've Got a Scat, I Love It:' Dealership Customer Asks About a 'Shelby' They Spotted on the Lot. Then They Found Out the Price 'How Bad Is This?' Woman Hears a Clink While She's Driving. Then She Pulls Over and IDs the Real Source of the Problem Get the best news, reviews, columns, and more delivered straight to your inbox, daily. back Sign up For more information, read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use . Share this Story Facebook X LinkedIn Flipboard Reddit WhatsApp E-Mail Got a tip for us? Email: tips@ Join the conversation ( )
Time of India
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
From sleeping in a car to NFL stardom: Josh Jacobs' powerful story will break your heart and inspire you
Before he was stiff-arming defenders and breaking records, Josh Jacobs was just a kid living out of a car in Tulsa, Oklahoma. No spotlight. No cleats. Just a backseat, a protective dad, and a dream that didn't seem real yet here he is. The Packers running back opened up again about his upbringing, and it's the kind of story that hits different when you realize how far he's come. It's not just inspiring, it's gut-wrenching, raw, and real. Josh Jacobs and his family lived in motels and cars but he never let it break him — _MLFootball (@_MLFootball) Josh was in middle school when his family's living situation collapsed. With his dad and siblings, he bounced between motels and nights parked in a Chevy Suburban, where his father would stay up to protect them. 'I normalized a lot of things growing up,' Jacobs said. 'Like I never thought, damn, I'm sleeping in a car.' He didn't complain. He didn't crack. He just played football, got better, and stayed ready. When Jacobs was drafted in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the Raiders, his first big move wasn't flashy jewelry or a luxury car. It was buying his dad a house. That full-circle moment made headlines everywhere. And if you've ever seen the footage, his dad breaking down in tears, it'll stay with you. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like (46만원 지원할인) 모발이식 500모 49.5만원 지원할인 모발이식 더 알아보기 Undo 'That's what made it real for me,' Jacobs said. 'Knowing I could take care of the man who never stopped taking care of me.' From Super Bowl ads to real-life change, Josh is using his platform to speak for others Jacobs didn't just stop at personal wins, he told his story on a Kia Super Bowl ad, highlighting youth homelessness and partnering with programs to raise awareness. Every yard he gained during Super Bowl LIV meant real money donated to kids going through what he once lived. It's the kind of advocacy that makes you see athletes as more than just players. This isn't just a rags-to-riches tale, it's about perseverance, perspective, and the power of staying grounded. Josh Jacobs could've folded under pressure. Instead, he turned his past into purpose. And now? He's not just running toward touchdowns, he's running for every kid still trying to make it out of that backseat. Also read - 'You can't troll your own brother': Shedeur Sanders responds to Shilo's savage roast For real-time updates, scores, and highlights, follow our live coverage of the India vs England Test match here . Game On Season 1 kicks off with Sakshi Malik's inspiring story. Watch Episode 1 here
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Connected devices can track you without your knowledge
June 24 (UPI) -- Some unusual witnesses helped convict Alex Murdaugh of the murders of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul. The first was Bubba, Maggie's yellow Labrador retriever. Prosecutors used a recording of Bubba to place Alex at the site of the murders. Given Alex's presence at the crime scene, other witnesses then revealed his movements, tracked his speed and explained what he had in his hands. Those other witnesses were a 2021 Chevy Suburban and Maggie, Paul and Alex's cellphones, which all provided data. They're all part of the Internet of Things, also known as IoT. The privacy implications of devices connected to the internet are not often the most important consideration in solving a murder case. But outside of criminal prosecution, they affect people's privacy in ways that should give everyone pause. The Internet of Things The Internet of Things includes any object or device that automatically sends and receives data via the internet. When you use your phone to message someone or social media to post something, the sharing is deliberate. But the automatic nature of connected devices effectively cuts humans out of the loop. The data from these devices can reveal a lot about the people who interact with them - and about other people around the devices. As an assistant professor of law at the University of South Carolina, I have watched as new kinds of connected devices have entered the market. New devices mean new ways to collect data about people. Connected devices collect information from different contexts. Take your refrigerator. As a non-IoT device, your fridge generated no data about your kitchen, your food or how often you peeked inside. Your relationship with the fridge was effectively private. Only you knew about that midnight snack or whether you ogled a co-worker's lunch. Now, smart refrigerators can respond to voice commands, show images of the items in your fridge, track who opens it, suggest recipes, generate grocery lists and even contact your car to let you know the milk has expired. All these functions require continuous streams of data. Device data and your privacy Connected devices generate lots of data in contexts that have typically produced little data to make those situations "legible" to whoever can access the data. In the past, if you wanted to monitor your heart rate, blood oxygenation, sleep patterns and stress levels, you might have undergone a battery of tests at a hospital. Specialized equipment in a controlled setting would have measured your body and make these parts of you visible to highly trained, licensed professionals. But now, devices such as the Oura Ring track and analyze all that information continuously, in non-health care contexts. Even if you don't mind sharing data with an Internet of Things company, there are privacy risks to using a device like this. In the health care context, a series of rules enforced by several groups make sure that connected equipment and the data the equipment generates have adequate cybersecurity protections. Away from that context, connected devices that perform similar functions don't have to meet the same cybersecurity standards. The U.S. Cyber Trust Mark program, administered by the Federal Communications Commission, is developing cybersecurity standards for Internet of Things devices. But the program is voluntary. In some states, such as Washington, state laws set standards for protecting health data from connected devices. But these laws don't cover all data from all devices in all contexts. This leaves the devices, and the data they generate, particularly vulnerable to unwanted access by hackers. Your inability to control who sees the data that connected devices gather is another privacy risk. It can give advertisers insights about potential customers. Absent a mandated opt-out, each device provider can decide what it does with customer data. Amazon, for example, recently removed the "Do Not Send Voice Recordings" option from the privacy settings of its popular smart speaker, Alexa. Some connected-device providers participate in data markets, selling your data to the highest bidder. Sometimes those purchasers include government agencies. So, instead of needing a warrant to track your whereabouts or learn about activity in your home, they can purchase or access Internet of Things records. A connected device can also compromise the data privacy of someone who just happens to be nearby. Connected cars Cars have joined the ranks of the Internet of Things. The 2021 Chevy Suburban that helped convict Alex Murdaugh simply tracked information about the vehicle. This included the vehicle's speed, the turning radius of the steering wheel and time stamps. Most modern vehicles also incorporate data from external sources. GPS data and infotainment systems that connect to cellphones also track the vehicle's movements. All of this data can also be used to track the whereabouts and behavior of drivers and other people in the vehicles. And as vehicles become increasingly automated, they need to make driving decisions in increasingly complex situations. To make safe driving decisions, they need data about the world around them. They need to know the size, speed and behavior of all the nearby vehicles on the roadway, moment to moment. They need to instantly identify the best way to avoid a pedestrian, cyclist or other object entering the roadway. If you and I are driving in separate cars on the same roadway, it means my car is collecting information about you. And if my vehicle is connected, then data about you is being shared with other cars and car companies. In other words, if a Tesla had been present at the scene of the Murdaugh murders, its outward facing cameras could have captured footage. Bubba's testimony might not have been necessary. Spillover data collection Internet of Things devices generate data from similar situations in a highly structured way. Therefore, what data collectors learn about me from my connected device may also give them insights about someone else in a similar situation. Take smart meters that share information with the water utility every 15 minutes. Imagine a subdivision with a narrow range of house and yard sizes. Water usage should be relatively comparable for each household. Data from even just a couple of houses can give a good sense of what water use should be for everyone in the neighborhood. Without actually collecting data from each house, data from connected devices reveals potentially private information about similarly situated people. Data from IoT devices can also fuel insights into people who never use or make contact with these devices. Aggregated data from Oura rings, for instance, could contribute to decisions a health insurer makes about you. Connected devices are also changing. In addition to collecting data about the person using the device, a growing number of sensors collect information about the environment around that person. Some of my research has examined what privacy means for people observed by vehicle sensor systems such as radar, lidar and sonar. These technologies capture potentially very revealing information about people and their property. Even the most comprehensive privacy laws in the United States offer people little recourse for the impact to their privacy. Civilian drones are capable of gathering data about other people. But people observed by drones would have a tough time learning that data about them exists and an even harder time controlling how that information might be used. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence systems are expanding the ways Internet of Things data can affect the privacy of other people by automating the process of training IoT systems. AI chipmaker Nvidia has created a digital environment, or model, where people can upload their connected device data. This environment can help train IoT devices to "predict the outcomes of the device's interactions with other people," according to Nvidia. Models like this make it easy for AI devices that you don't own to collect data or reach conclusions about you. In other words, IoT data processed by AI can make inferences about you, rendering you legible to the AI system even before you interact with an IoT device. Looking forward Internet of Things devices and the data they generate are here to stay. As the world becomes increasingly automated, I believe it's important to be more aware of the way connected devices may be affecting people's privacy. The story of how vehicle data combined with cell data in the Murdaugh trial is a case in point. At the start of the trial, prosecutors came ready to show "phone call logs and texts, steps recorded, apps asking for information, GPS locations, changes when the phone went from vertical portrait mode to horizontal landscape mode and back, and - key to the prosecution's case -- when the camera was activated." But that was probably not enough to merit a conviction. During the trial, GM called and said something like "oh wait, we found something," according to the prosecution. That vehicle data, combined with the cellphone data, told a story that Alex Murdaugh could not deny. There are at least two lessons from this story. First, not even GM fully realized all the data it had collected in its vehicles. It's important to be aware of just how much information IoT devices are collecting. Second, combining data from different IoT devices revealed incontestable details of Alex Murdaugh's activities. Away from criminal court, combining data from multiple IoT devices can have a profound effect on people's privacy. If people's data privacy matters, how do we address this reality? One way of potentially protecting people's privacy is to make sure people and communities observed by connected devices have a direct say in what data the devices collect and how the data is used. This article is part of a series on data privacy that explores who collects your data, what and how they collect, who sells and buys your data, what they all do with it, and what you can do about it. David Sella-Villa is an assistant professor of law at the University of South Carolina. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. The views and opinions in this commentary are solely those of the author.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
How Internet of Things devices affect your privacy – even when they're not yours
Some unusual witnesses helped convict Alex Murdaugh of the murders of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul. The first was Bubba, Maggie's yellow Labrador retriever. Prosecutors used a recording of Bubba to place Alex at the site of the murders. Given Alex's presence at the crime scene, other witnesses then revealed his movements, tracked his speed and explained what he had in his hands. Those other witnesses were a 2021 Chevy Suburban and Maggie, Paul and Alex's cellphones, which all provided data. They're all part of the Internet of Things, also known as IoT. The privacy implications of devices connected to the internet are not often the most important consideration in solving a murder case. But outside of criminal prosecution, they affect people's privacy in ways that should give everyone pause. The Internet of Things includes any object or device that automatically sends and receives data via the internet. When you use your phone to message someone or social media to post something, the sharing is deliberate. But the automatic nature of connected devices effectively cuts humans out of the loop. The data from these devices can reveal a lot about the people who interact with them – and about other people around the devices. As an assistant professor of law at the University of South Carolina, I have watched as new kinds of connected devices have entered the market. New devices mean new ways to collect data about people. Read more: Connected devices collect information from different contexts. Take your refrigerator. As a non-IoT device, your fridge generated no data about your kitchen, your food or how often you peeked inside. Your relationship with the fridge was effectively private. Only you knew about that midnight snack or whether you ogled a co-worker's lunch. Now, smart refrigerators can respond to voice commands, show images of the items in your fridge, track who opens it, suggest recipes, generate grocery lists and even contact your car to let you know the milk has expired. All these functions require continuous streams of data. Connected devices generate lots of data in contexts that have typically produced little data to make those situations 'legible' to whoever can access the data. In the past, if you wanted to monitor your heart rate, blood oxygenation, sleep patterns and stress levels, you might have undergone a battery of tests at a hospital. Specialized equipment in a controlled setting would have measured your body and make these parts of you visible to highly trained, licensed professionals. But now, devices such as the Oura Ring track and analyze all that information continuously, in non-health care contexts. Even if you don't mind sharing data with an Internet of Things company, there are privacy risks to using a device like this. In the health care context, a series of rules enforced by several groups make sure that connected equipment and the data the equipment generates have adequate cybersecurity protections. Away from that context, connected devices that perform similar functions don't have to meet the same cybersecurity standards. The U.S. Cyber Trust Mark program, administered by the Federal Communications Commission, is developing cybersecurity standards for Internet of Things devices. But the program is voluntary. In some states, such as Washington, state laws set standards for protecting health data from connected devices. But these laws don't cover all data from all devices in all contexts. This leaves the devices, and the data they generate, particularly vulnerable to unwanted access by hackers. Your inability to control who sees the data that connected devices gather is another privacy risk. It can give advertisers insights about potential customers. Absent a mandated opt-out, each device provider can decide what it does with customer data. Amazon, for example, recently removed the 'Do Not Send Voice Recordings' option from the privacy settings of its popular smart speaker, Alexa. Some connected-device providers participate in data markets, selling your data to the highest bidder. Sometimes those purchasers include government agencies. So, instead of needing a warrant to track your whereabouts or learn about activity in your home, they can purchase or access Internet of Things records. A connected device can also compromise the data privacy of someone who just happens to be nearby. Cars have joined the ranks of the Internet of Things. The 2021 Chevy Suburban that helped convict Alex Murdaugh simply tracked information about the vehicle. This included the vehicle's speed, the turning radius of the steering wheel and time stamps. Most modern vehicles also incorporate data from external sources. GPS data and infotainment systems that connect to cellphones also track the vehicle's movements. All of this data can also be used to track the whereabouts and behavior of drivers and other people in the vehicles. And as vehicles become increasingly automated, they need to make driving decisions in increasingly complex situations. To make safe driving decisions, they need data about the world around them. They need to know the size, speed and behavior of all the nearby vehicles on the roadway, moment to moment. They need to instantly identify the best way to avoid a pedestrian, cyclist or other object entering the roadway. If you and I are driving in separate cars on the same roadway, it means my car is collecting information about you. And if my vehicle is connected, then data about you is being shared with other cars and car companies. In other words, if a Tesla had been present at the scene of the Murdaugh murders, its outward facing cameras could have captured footage. Bubba's testimony might not have been necessary. Internet of Things devices generate data from similar situations in a highly structured way. Therefore, what data collectors learn about me from my connected device may also give them insights about someone else in a similar situation. Take smart meters that share information with the water utility every 15 minutes. Imagine a subdivision with a narrow range of house and yard sizes. Water usage should be relatively comparable for each household. Data from even just a couple of houses can give a good sense of what water use should be for everyone in the neighborhood. Without actually collecting data from each house, data from connected devices reveals potentially private information about similarly situated people. Data from IoT devices can also fuel insights into people who never use or make contact with these devices. Aggregated data from Oura rings, for instance, could contribute to decisions a health insurer makes about you. Connected devices are also changing. In addition to collecting data about the person using the device, a growing number of sensors collect information about the environment around that person. Some of my research has examined what privacy means for people observed by vehicle sensor systems such as radar, lidar and sonar. These technologies capture potentially very revealing information about people and their property. Even the most comprehensive privacy laws in the United States offer people little recourse for the impact to their privacy. Civilian drones are capable of gathering data about other people. But people observed by drones would have a tough time learning that data about them exists and an even harder time controlling how that information might be used. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence systems are expanding the ways Internet of Things data can affect the privacy of other people by automating the process of training IoT systems. AI chipmaker Nvidia has created a digital environment, or model, where people can upload their connected device data. This environment can help train IoT devices to 'predict the outcomes of the device's interactions with other people,' according to Nvidia. Models like this make it easy for AI devices that you don't own to collect data or reach conclusions about you. In other words, IoT data processed by AI can make inferences about you, rendering you legible to the AI system even before you interact with an IoT device. Internet of Things devices and the data they generate are here to stay. As the world becomes increasingly automated, I believe it's important to be more aware of the way connected devices may be affecting people's privacy. The story of how vehicle data combined with cell data in the Murdaugh trial is a case in point. At the start of the trial, prosecutors came ready to show 'phone call logs and texts, steps recorded, apps asking for information, GPS locations, changes when the phone went from vertical portrait mode to horizontal landscape mode and back, and — key to the prosecution's case — when the camera was activated.' But that was probably not enough to merit a conviction. During the trial, GM called and said something like 'oh wait, we found something,' according to the prosecution. That vehicle data, combined with the cellphone data, told a story that Alex Murdaugh could not deny. There are at least two lessons from this story. First, not even GM fully realized all the data it had collected in its vehicles. It's important to be aware of just how much information IoT devices are collecting. Second, combining data from different IoT devices revealed incontestable details of Alex Murdaugh's activities. Away from criminal court, combining data from multiple IoT devices can have a profound effect on people's privacy. If people's data privacy matters, how do we address this reality? One way of potentially protecting people's privacy is to make sure people and communities observed by connected devices have a direct say in what data the devices collect and how the data is used. This article is part of a series on data privacy that explores who collects your data, what and how they collect, who sells and buys your data, what they all do with it, and what you can do about it. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: David Sella-Villa, University of South Carolina Read more: How illicit markets fueled by data breaches sell your personal information to criminals Your car might be watching you to keep you safe − at the expense of your privacy US agencies buy vast quantities of personal information on the open market – a legal scholar explains why and what it means for privacy in the age of AI David Sella-Villa does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
UPI
6 days ago
- UPI
Connected devices can track you without your knowledge
June 24 (UPI) -- Some unusual witnesses helped convict Alex Murdaugh of the murders of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul. The first was Bubba, Maggie's yellow Labrador retriever. Prosecutors used a recording of Bubba to place Alex at the site of the murders. Given Alex's presence at the crime scene, other witnesses then revealed his movements, tracked his speed and explained what he had in his hands. Those other witnesses were a 2021 Chevy Suburban and Maggie, Paul and Alex's cellphones, which all provided data. They're all part of the Internet of Things, also known as IoT. The privacy implications of devices connected to the internet are not often the most important consideration in solving a murder case. But outside of criminal prosecution, they affect people's privacy in ways that should give everyone pause. The Internet of Things The Internet of Things includes any object or device that automatically sends and receives data via the internet. When you use your phone to message someone or social media to post something, the sharing is deliberate. But the automatic nature of connected devices effectively cuts humans out of the loop. The data from these devices can reveal a lot about the people who interact with them - and about other people around the devices. As an assistant professor of law at the University of South Carolina, I have watched as new kinds of connected devices have entered the market. New devices mean new ways to collect data about people. Connected devices collect information from different contexts. Take your refrigerator. As a non-IoT device, your fridge generated no data about your kitchen, your food or how often you peeked inside. Your relationship with the fridge was effectively private. Only you knew about that midnight snack or whether you ogled a co-worker's lunch. Now, smart refrigerators can respond to voice commands, show images of the items in your fridge, track who opens it, suggest recipes, generate grocery lists and even contact your car to let you know the milk has expired. All these functions require continuous streams of data. Device data and your privacy Connected devices generate lots of data in contexts that have typically produced little data to make those situations "legible" to whoever can access the data. In the past, if you wanted to monitor your heart rate, blood oxygenation, sleep patterns and stress levels, you might have undergone a battery of tests at a hospital. Specialized equipment in a controlled setting would have measured your body and make these parts of you visible to highly trained, licensed professionals. But now, devices such as the Oura Ring track and analyze all that information continuously, in non-health care contexts. Even if you don't mind sharing data with an Internet of Things company, there are privacy risks to using a device like this. In the health care context, a series of rules enforced by several groups make sure that connected equipment and the data the equipment generates have adequate cybersecurity protections. Away from that context, connected devices that perform similar functions don't have to meet the same cybersecurity standards. The U.S. Cyber Trust Mark program, administered by the Federal Communications Commission, is developing cybersecurity standards for Internet of Things devices. But the program is voluntary. In some states, such as Washington, state laws set standards for protecting health data from connected devices. But these laws don't cover all data from all devices in all contexts. This leaves the devices, and the data they generate, particularly vulnerable to unwanted access by hackers. Your inability to control who sees the data that connected devices gather is another privacy risk. It can give advertisers insights about potential customers. Absent a mandated opt-out, each device provider can decide what it does with customer data. Amazon, for example, recently removed the "Do Not Send Voice Recordings" option from the privacy settings of its popular smart speaker, Alexa. Some connected-device providers participate in data markets, selling your data to the highest bidder. Sometimes those purchasers include government agencies. So, instead of needing a warrant to track your whereabouts or learn about activity in your home, they can purchase or access Internet of Things records. A connected device can also compromise the data privacy of someone who just happens to be nearby. Connected cars Cars have joined the ranks of the Internet of Things. The 2021 Chevy Suburban that helped convict Alex Murdaugh simply tracked information about the vehicle. This included the vehicle's speed, the turning radius of the steering wheel and time stamps. Most modern vehicles also incorporate data from external sources. GPS data and infotainment systems that connect to cellphones also track the vehicle's movements. All of this data can also be used to track the whereabouts and behavior of drivers and other people in the vehicles. And as vehicles become increasingly automated, they need to make driving decisions in increasingly complex situations. To make safe driving decisions, they need data about the world around them. They need to know the size, speed and behavior of all the nearby vehicles on the roadway, moment to moment. They need to instantly identify the best way to avoid a pedestrian, cyclist or other object entering the roadway. If you and I are driving in separate cars on the same roadway, it means my car is collecting information about you. And if my vehicle is connected, then data about you is being shared with other cars and car companies. In other words, if a Tesla had been present at the scene of the Murdaugh murders, its outward facing cameras could have captured footage. Bubba's testimony might not have been necessary. Spillover data collection Internet of Things devices generate data from similar situations in a highly structured way. Therefore, what data collectors learn about me from my connected device may also give them insights about someone else in a similar situation. Take smart meters that share information with the water utility every 15 minutes. Imagine a subdivision with a narrow range of house and yard sizes. Water usage should be relatively comparable for each household. Data from even just a couple of houses can give a good sense of what water use should be for everyone in the neighborhood. Without actually collecting data from each house, data from connected devices reveals potentially private information about similarly situated people. Data from IoT devices can also fuel insights into people who never use or make contact with these devices. Aggregated data from Oura rings, for instance, could contribute to decisions a health insurer makes about you. Connected devices are also changing. In addition to collecting data about the person using the device, a growing number of sensors collect information about the environment around that person. Some of my research has examined what privacy means for people observed by vehicle sensor systems such as radar, lidar and sonar. These technologies capture potentially very revealing information about people and their property. Even the most comprehensive privacy laws in the United States offer people little recourse for the impact to their privacy. Civilian drones are capable of gathering data about other people. But people observed by drones would have a tough time learning that data about them exists and an even harder time controlling how that information might be used. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence systems are expanding the ways Internet of Things data can affect the privacy of other people by automating the process of training IoT systems. AI chipmaker Nvidia has created a digital environment, or model, where people can upload their connected device data. This environment can help train IoT devices to "predict the outcomes of the device's interactions with other people," according to Nvidia. Models like this make it easy for AI devices that you don't own to collect data or reach conclusions about you. In other words, IoT data processed by AI can make inferences about you, rendering you legible to the AI system even before you interact with an IoT device. Looking forward Internet of Things devices and the data they generate are here to stay. As the world becomes increasingly automated, I believe it's important to be more aware of the way connected devices may be affecting people's privacy. The story of how vehicle data combined with cell data in the Murdaugh trial is a case in point. At the start of the trial, prosecutors came ready to show "phone call logs and texts, steps recorded, apps asking for information, GPS locations, changes when the phone went from vertical portrait mode to horizontal landscape mode and back, and - key to the prosecution's case -- when the camera was activated." But that was probably not enough to merit a conviction. During the trial, GM called and said something like "oh wait, we found something," according to the prosecution. That vehicle data, combined with the cellphone data, told a story that Alex Murdaugh could not deny. There are at least two lessons from this story. First, not even GM fully realized all the data it had collected in its vehicles. It's important to be aware of just how much information IoT devices are collecting. Second, combining data from different IoT devices revealed incontestable details of Alex Murdaugh's activities. Away from criminal court, combining data from multiple IoT devices can have a profound effect on people's privacy. If people's data privacy matters, how do we address this reality? One way of potentially protecting people's privacy is to make sure people and communities observed by connected devices have a direct say in what data the devices collect and how the data is used. This article is part of a series on data privacy that explores who collects your data, what and how they collect, who sells and buys your data, what they all do with it, and what you can do about it. David Sella-Villa is an assistant professor of law at the University of South Carolina. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. The views and opinions in this commentary are solely those of the author.
