Many modern cars are connected to the Internet and have apps that allow the owner to see a car's location, start it remotely, honk the horn, and even adjust the temperature. These car monitoring and tracking apps are designed for your convenience, but a New York Times article last month detailed how they have been used as a weapon in abusive relationships, enabling unwanted stalking and harassment.
Domestic violence survivors and experts said car companies had not responded when asked to cut off abusers' digital access to cars. Car company customer service agents were unable to help when the abuser owned or co-owned the vehicle, even when the victim had a restraining order or court ruling granting him exclusive use of the car during divorce proceedings. .
On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission sent letters to nine of the largest automakers, including General Motors, Toyota, Ford Motor and Tesla, requesting more information about their connected car apps and whether the companies had processes in place to help victims of abuse.
“No survivor of domestic violence and abuse should have to choose between giving up their car and allowing themselves to be harassed and harmed by those who can access their data and connectivity,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement. “We must do everything we can to help survivors stay safe. “We need to work with automotive and wireless industry leaders to find solutions.”
Chairwoman Rosenworcel wrote in the letters that the FCC was responsible for enforcing the Secure Connections Act, a relatively new law that requires phone companies to separate a victim's phone from a family plan shared with the abuser. To the extent that cars have become “smartphones on wheels,” automakers “may be 'covered suppliers'” under the law, she wrote.
The agency also sent letters to the three largest wireless communications providers (Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile) about the role they play in providing connectivity to cars and whether they are complying with the law.
Thomas Kadri, a law professor at the University of Georgia and an adviser to the Secure Connections Act, found it surprising that the law could apply to automakers. But he said he hoped the letters would cause automakers to consider how connected car apps could be used to stalk and harass.
“It's not a niche or a rare problem at the scale they're operating at,” he said.
The FCC requested responses to the letters by the end of the month.
