Will your next bike be spying on you?

[R-Rated]

Last night I was in a meeting with some motovloggers. We were planning on meeting at a rally point cross country when all of us are heading from different directions and distances. Everyone except one agreed to share our location with the others. The one rider that could not share has a flip phone.

Then this morning in my YouTube feed comes this legit news story about a report from Mozilla. Mozilla released a report last year that called out all of the car manufacturers for collecting and sharing data including data that had nothing to do with maintenance or safety.

I got to thinking about more bikes have the ability of the rider to have their map on the display or stream music. Imagine the bike using your phone to collect speed, acceleration, braking, and so on only to share it with your insurance company?

It reminds me of a scene from The Sopranos (edit for cleanliness) -

“Take out the GPS. I don’t want the FBI tracking us with it.” – Tony Soprano

“That’s what I like about you, boss; you are always thinking of the big picture.” – Paulie Walnuts

How long do you think it will be before we find out motorcycle manufacturers have been doing this?

Who here thinks it is counterintuitive that people in general would be upset about a car tracking them but we carry cellphones that can do the same to us?

ANNNDDDD BEGINN...

 

[Theodor]

Yes, vehicles collect data about speed, acceleration etc, and store it in the "brain" of the vehicle. I believe there have been court cases, where responsibility of causing an accident has already been decided, using such log. I'm fairly sure there are bikes out there, that already do that.

About other kind of tracking, it's really irrelevant if you already own a cellphone. then there are about a dozen apps that already do it, so why worry of one more?

 

[throttleup]

Yeah, mine probably does

 

[LoneWolfer]

Time to buy an old Iron Head.

 

[CalmBiker]

I guess it depends where you are in the world and what data it collects. If it's personally identifiable then GDPR might cover it so you would have to know what was collected and what it would be sued for. There was a plan to make this a legal requirement in the EU.

When it comes to what is tracked, people can be quite surprised. I worked for several years in this arena and we tracked not only position and speed but also gear use, acceleration, position of pedals, whether doors were open or not and much much more, especially on goods vehicles. We could work out a driver profile and help drivers change their driving to minimise fuel use. One customer saved £60,000 in their first year of using the system.

 

[Slorida]

....There was a plan to make this a legal requirement in the EU....

The requirement for new cars and vans to be fitted with trackers and data logs is already in EU Directives. There is no requirement for them to be active yet, but the EU has already stated that this is just a matter of time and they are waiting for people to "get used to the technology being there".

Where the EU goes, the UK follows.

 

[Land Shark]

I tie a string to my phone and swing it around over my head to make the government think that I'm a merry-go-round aficionado.
I am the monkey in their wrench.

 

[R-Rated]

I tie a string to my phone and swing it around over my head to make the government think that I'm a merry-go-round aficionado.
I am the monkey in their wrench.

I bet if any of us do the same in our front yard substituting dead chicken for phone then we will meet the government agent reeaallly quick.

Jist sayin'

 

[Theodor]

I bet if any of us do the same in our front yard substituting dead chicken for phone then we will meet the government agent reeaallly quick.

Jist sayin'

But a live one is OK?

 

[R-Rated]

But a live one is OK?

Not only ok but encouraged for making new friends in some parts here in the US

 

[Land Shark]

Man... that's a heck of a way to choke your chicken...

 

[Moto Mengy]

About other kind of tracking, it's really irrelevant if you already own a cellphone. then there are about a dozen apps that already do it, so why worry of one more?

That's pretty much where I'm at. Smartphones, "smart: cars, and yeah we'll probably soon have "smart" bikes phoning info home. I'm not too concerned, I just want to have fun riding motorcycles.

 

[Campbell01]

The requirement for new cars and vans to be fitted with trackers and data logs is already in EU Directives. There is no requirement for them to be active yet, but the EU has already stated that this is just a matter of time and they are waiting for people to "get used to the technology being there".

Where the EU goes, the UK follows.

This kicks in with immediate effect on all new cars. As an interim you'll be able to 'disable' the speed limiter/warning, which you will have to do whenever you start your car. The hope is that it'll let everyone get their heads around it and then they'll go full nanny state and you'll not be able to switch it off at all.
Long term, this'll kill off the car and motorcycle industry. Well, the performance markets at least. After all. Who wants to buy a Porsche that's not any quicker than a Dacia?
Imagine what hitting the limiter will be like mid overtake... There's going to be a LOT more road rage caused by frustration.

 

[scooterwuf]

I'm not sure if I'm safe as the rogue Tracfone user in the world.

- Wolf

 

[R-Rated]

I'm not sure if I'm safe as the rogue Tracfone user in the world.

- Wolf

The government has been following the lone burner phone for years!

 

[scooterwuf]

It’s probably F-ing up their system like every time I use mine.

-Wolf