Warning: What You Have to know About Connecting Your Device inside a Rental Car

T echnology has advanced recently where one can connect your portable electronic device towards the entertainment and information system included in the dashboard of a car; and also the number of the fleets of rental car companies where you could do has increased to the point where fraxel treatments is expected – whatever the class of vehicle rented these days…

…but are you aware that once you drop off the automobile at a location of a rental car company, you could be leaving something behind when you are whisked – er…better make that slowly lumbered – away with that passenger bus towards the airport terminal?

No, you aren't abandoning anything physical, as you have everything with you. Actually, you double-checked and realized that you are not missing anything more – however, you could still be leaving something behind in the car you simply dropped off…

…your individual information and demanding data.

Warning: That which you Have to know About Connecting Your Device in a Rental Car

If you don't have a few easy steps whenever you return those keys to the rental, you may somewhat be leaving a trail of “virtual breadcrumbs” with which anyone can track not only where you have been; but also view your whole contact list and text messages.

You read that correctly: private text messages which you delivered to business colleagues, your friends, your family – or to that special somebody in your life.

When you apply the entertainment and information system from the vehicle which you are renting, it may store personal information also it “may keep locations you entered in GPS or visited when travelling in the car rental – like in which you work or live”, according to this short article compiled by Lisa Weintraub Schifferle, who's an attorney from the Division of Consumer and Business Education from the Federal Trade Commission of the Netherlands. “If you connect a mobile device, the car may also keep the mobile telephone number, call and message logs, or perhaps contacts and text messages. If you don't delete that data before you return the vehicle, others may notice, including future renters and rental car employees or perhaps hackers.”

Even your information because the owner of the device can be available to future renters of the vehicle – and all of that information can offer an abundance of data in regards to you. Navigation histories can reveal where you reside or work.

What Car rental Companies Can Do

As increasingly more vehicles are equipped with the latest mobile communications technologies – such as global positioning system navigation, hands-free calling, streaming music, Bluetooth, texting, live interactive roadside assistance, and Internet web browsing – your sensitive private information and data history can possibly be collected and stored. It can potentially remain having a rental vehicle long afterwards you've returned it – and you may not really realize it.

“Unless consumer data stored around the infotainment system is deleted prior to the car is returned towards the rental agency, that information will be accessible by third parties including future renters, rental car employees, or even hackers”, according to this article, which was also written by Lisa Weintraub Schifferle. “If you are a car rental company, you need to think about protecting consumer privacy in connected rental cars.”

Lisa Weintraub Schifferle offers some important advice for owners and managers of car rental companies which worry about consumer privacy:

• Disable any automatic settings which synchronize or save data from a paired device.

• Establish policies and procedures to delete consumer data in the entertainment and information system when each car is returned. Train employees to follow along with these procedures; and monitor employees so that the procedures are followed. Ensure that deleting data is another step – as with washing the interior of the vehicle, for instance – to prepare the vehicle for the following rental.

• Prominently warn consumers about the types of data which may be downloaded from devices and stored on the entertainment and knowledge system of the vehicle. Then, provide clear instructions on how they are able to delete the data.

What You Can Do

Lisa Weintraub Schifferle provides the following suggestions regarding how to make use of the entertainment and information system inside a rental car but still keep the information personal and:

• Use the cigarette lighter with an adapter to charge your portable electronic device. Avoid connecting your portable electronic devices directly to the entertainment and information system solely for the purpose of charging them, as the USB connection may transfer data automatically out of your portable electronic device towards the entertainment and knowledge system from the vehicle.

• Check your permissions. If you do connect your portable electronic device towards the car, the entertainment and knowledge system may present a screen which helps you to specify which types of information you want the machine to access. Grant access simply to the data which you think is essential – should you would like to be a musician, for instance, you don't need to grant access to your contacts.

• Delete your computer data in the entertainment and knowledge system prior to returning the car. Go into the settings menu of the entertainment and knowledge system to find a listing of devices that have been combined with the system. Locate your portable digital camera; and stick to the prompts to delete it. The user guide and the car rental company may have more details about how to delete your computer data.

Summary

If you don't stick to the aforementioned steps, you'll have to rely on the kindness of strangers to ignore any personal information which you may have left behind within the vehicle – otherwise, you can inadvertently wind up as a victim of identity fraud; which is one important additional bit of information to add to their list of id theft and credit card scams: you skill and how to reduce your risk, which I first prepared for yourself on Tuesday, December 2, 2020.

I will offer an additional tidbit of recommendation: after i travel and don't require a mobile telephone – for example after i travel internationally, for example – I let it rest at home and carry an older device which plays music but does not contain any sensitive private information; in order to freely use it without worry in a rental car…

…but when you'll want your mobile telephone along with you, perhaps have a second smaller portable electronic device which does not contain any sensitive private information you have so you could use it without concern or worry – and check out not to connect your mobile telephone towards the entertainment and knowledge system from the car rental, if it is at all possible.

One of the most basic criteria of hiring a car for me personally will be able to be a musician to which I enjoy listening whenever I travel; so this is good information about which to understand for the following time I rent an automobile.