California to review consumer data privacy in cars

California state regulators will review the data protection policies of car manufacturers as part of the state's efforts on consumer privacy. The audit will focus on connected vehicles that tie in with drivers' mobile phones to power popular infotainment features — like Apple Inc.'s CarPlay or Alphabet Inc.'s Android Auto.

"Modern vehicles are effectively connected computers on wheels," Ashkan Soltani, executive director of the California Privacy Protection Agency, said in a statement Monday. "They're able to collect a wealth of information via built-in apps, sensors, and cameras, which can monitor people both inside and near the vehicle."

Soltani said the agency's enforcement division is reaching out to car manufacturers to gauge how they use and collect consumer data and are complying with California's privacy laws. The agency declined to comment further on which carmakers it had contacted as part of the review.

The California Privacy Protection Agency is launching the review under a 2018 state law giving Californians the right to know which personal information businesses collect about them and the right to request deleting their information.