(BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU IN YOUR CAR)
October 14, 2024
Hello everyone
This week we will see:
Many corporate earnings
US Retail Sales & industrial production data
Eurozone Inflation & UK Inflation data
China’s GDP & trade data
WEEK AHEAD CALENDAR
MONDAY, OCT 14
Columbus Day
Bond market closed
9:00 a.m. US Fed Speeches
TUESDAY, OCT 15
8:30 a.m. Empire State Index (October)
8:30 a.m. Canada Inflation Rate
Earnings: United Airlines, J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Citigroup, State Street, Goldman Sachs Group, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Johnson & Johnson, Bank of America, PNC Financial Services Group, United Health Group, Charles Schwab.
WEDNESDAY, OCT 16
2:00 a.m. UK Inflation Rate
8:30 a.m. Export Price Index (September)
8:30 a.m. Import Price Index (September)
Earnings: PPG Industries, Steel Dynamics, Discover Financial Services, CSX, Prologis, Morgan Stanley, Abbott Laboratories, U.S. Bancorp, Citizens Financial Group, Synchrony Financial.
THURSDAY, OCT 17
8:15 a.m. Euro Area Rate Decision
8:30 a.m. Continuing Jobless Claims (10/05)
8:30 a.m. Initial Claims (10/12)
8:30 a.m. Philadelphia Fed Index (October)
8:30 a.m. Retail Sales (September)
9:15 a.m. Capacity Utilization (September)
9:15 a.m. Industrial Production (September)
9:15 Manufacturing Production (September)
10 a.m. NAHB Housing Market Index (October)
Earnings: Intuitive Surgical, Netflix, KeyCorp, M & T Bank Corp., Elevance Health, Truist Financial, Huntington Bancshares, Blackstone.
FRIDAY, OCT 18
8:30 a.m. Building Permits preliminary (September)
8:30 a.m. Housing Starts (September)
Earnings: Schlumberger NV, Procter & Gamble, Fifth Third Bancorp, Regions Financial, American Express, Ally Financial.
Driving your car is no longer a private experience – data is being shared with x, y, and z when you purchase new car brands.
Do you want companies/people to know your location when you are driving?
Do you want companies/people to know the way you drive?
Do you speed? Do you brake heavily? Do you tailgate?
More data than you can imagine is being recorded and shared with third parties in new cars produced today.
Microphones, sensors, and other internet-connected features mean cars have become all-seeing data harvesting machines dubbed “smartphones on wheels.”
Most consumers are unaware of this as car makers are not very upfront about data collection and often keep the fine print in their privacy policies vaguely worded.
Hyundai, Kia, and Tesla seem to be the worst culprits at selling data on to third parties, according to Choice Magazine.
A Choice investigation found that Kia and Hyundai, which have the same parent company, collect voice recognition data from inside their cars and sell this to the artificial intelligence (AI)software training company Credence.
Kia and Hyundai drivers – have you consented to your voice being used to train AI models?
If you are a Tesla owner, you really need to be aware of this. Images and videos from cameras inside Teslas, which have been shared with third parties, have shown Tesla customers in the nude, as well as images of crashes and road-rage incidents.
The privacy policies seem to be incredibly vague. In other words, they provide no clear guidelines on what data is being collected, how it’s being collected, and where the data is going.
Perhaps it is ambiguous for good reason – it clearly keeps the customer on the back foot while the car company and third parties are in control.
The findings by Choice investigation are like those of the US-based Mozilla Foundation, which last year found 25 car brands collected customer data ranging from facial expressions to sexual activity and where and how people drive.
Cars are no longer just transport getting you from A to B. The inbuilt technology is invasive and being shared with third parties we are not aware of.
One Queensland man backed out of purchasing a Toyota Ute earlier this year after he learned about the company’s data collection practices. Toyota collects and shares vehicle location and driver behaviour data, including scoring a driver’s acceleration, braking, and cornering behaviour during each trip.
The privacy policies that you find totally bewildering have often given car brands the option of sharing data with insurers.
Get back in control – what can you do?
If you use an app for your car, head into the app’s settings and look for any sort of data sharing options, usually named “data privacy” or data usage.”
Where possible, opt out of sharing any data with third parties and see if you can disable GPS location tracking when not in use for navigation.
Do you connect your phone to the car’s infotainment system? Be cautious. Limit the permissions you grant the car's system.
I would expect the process of deleting any data collected is unique to most car models and types.
Check out the free online resource Privacy4Cars. It offers step-by-step delete instructions for thousands of vehicles.
The website covers the UK, EU, US, and Canada. Some Australian models may not be included. The site is not perfect, but it’s better than nothing.
Governments and car buyers – their reactions.
Last month, the US moved to ban a vast array of Chinese-made cars over fears the Chinese government could spy on their drivers.
Data gathered by Chinese-made cars is the same as other car brands, but there could be a higher potential for misuse.
A double level of surveillance – commercial and government – seems rather invasive. George Orwell’s book 1984 is a stark reminder of what is happening in our modern world. Orwell certainly was a visionary and gave us all something to think about – even though we might not have given his concepts much attention at the time.
About three in four Australians disagree or strongly disagree with video or audio recordings from inside a car being collected by car companies, according to a nationally representative Choice survey conducted in June 2024.
Support services for domestic violence victims are also increasingly concerned.
Domestic violence perpetrators are using connected cars to track those who are trying to escape them.
We need to remember a car is now “a computer on wheels.”
California recently introduced legislation requiring car makers selling internet-connected cars to do more to protect domestic abuse survivors, including enabling drivers to easily turn off location access from inside the vehicle.
Last year, a woman unsuccessfully sued Tesla, alleging the company failed to act after she repeatedly complained that her husband was stalking and harassing her using the car maker’s technology, despite a restraining order.
While there are obviously some apparent negative elements to driving “a computer on wheels,” it is also clear that the utilization of data in vehicles, including both connected and autonomous vehicles, provides consumers with benefits through improvements in safety, performance, and navigation as well as supporting general user experience and servicing improvements.
Car makers and privacy laws need to be monitored closely. Make sure you read the fine print and ask questions.
MARKET UPDATE
S&P 500
The rally is still on track, with no signs of exhaustion yet.
Next target = ~5,930
Support = ~5790/5760
GOLD
Uptrend still intact.
Next target = ~$2,770/$2,800
Support = ~$2,630/$2605
BITCOIN
Potential for a good upside rally after Bitcoin formed a wave ii correction, which completed an (a b c) corrective move.
Next target = ~ $68,000/$73,800
Support = ~ $60,500/$58,800
QI CORNER
This graphic compares the countries and regions with the highest nominal GDP per capita in 2024 to those in 2014, based on data from the International Monetary Fund.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Cheers
Jacquie
