On January 26th, during a virtual meeting with people from the aftermarket industry, Jean-François Champagne, President of AIA Canada, gave an update on the Your Car, Your Data, Your Choice campaign.

“The number of companies and individuals who have signed the petition is growing rapidly and AIA Canada is counting on this support to raise awareness among Canadian legislative authorities who are currently working on the issue of personal data protection.

“The current revision of this charter represents an opportunity for the automotive aftermarket since one of its motivations, in addition to data control and secure data sharing, is to ensure healthy competition that benefits consumers,” said Champagne.

Champagne reiterates its invitation to industry partners to sign the petition that will be sent to the Ministry of Commerce which is currently working on the revision.

AIA Canada also invited Bill Hanvey, President of AutoCare in the United States, to provide an update on the progress of the Your Car, Your Data, Your Choice campaign south of the border.

Informing the entire industry

This approach is critical and information-based,” said Hanvey.

“It’s important when 85% of consumers don’t know that their vehicle is sharing data, in real-time, with the manufacturers. Since we know that in two years 95% of new vehicles will be connected to their manufacturers via telematics, it’s high time to put pressure on the issue.”

For Hanvey, the consumer needs to be informed about these issues, but also the aftermarket sector and government authorities. The petition is an excellent approach to raise consumer awareness of the issues related to access to this data.

He also mentioned that the recent decision by Massachusetts voters to have access to their vehicle service data was being challenged by the manufacturers. According to Hanvey, this opposition by the manufacturers, who cite security concerns related to the sharing of personal information or intellectual property, is not a bad thing in itself.

“While we wanted to meet with the manufacturers to establish standards for sharing data with consumers, they served us up a lawsuit,” says Hanvey calmly.

“This will have the effect of greatly increasing the visibility of our approach. There is every indication that manufacturers will only agree to open access to their vehicle data if they are legally required to do so.”

Technological solutions

A recent discussion with Billy Thomas, Director of Automotive Services for Vehicle Mind, reveals that technologies are being developed to facilitate the sharing of vehicle data with owners. A module, inserted into the OBD2 port, allows motorists to obtain essential information about the condition of their car directly on their cell phone.

“We believe that this summer, with the agreement of the vehicle owner, this data could be shared directly with the garage of his or her choice,” explains Mr. Thomas.

You can sign your commitment to the Your Car, Your Data cause by following this link.