The New Car Deal: OEMs Pivot from Hardware to Behavioral Data Pipelines

For decades, the automotive business model was simple: sell the hardware, service the engine. But as connected car technology integrates WiFi and GPS into the chassis, the real profit center is shifting toward the monetization of driver behavior, as TechCrunch first reported.

According to reporting from TechCrunch, a peer-reviewed study conducted by researchers at Northeastern University in partnership with Consumer Reports suggests that vehicles are no longer just transport—they are data harvesting nodes. The study tested 21 late-model vehicles from 17 different automakers, including Tesla, Rivian, Lucid, Ford, Toyota, and GM brands such as Chevrolet and Cadillac.

From a payments and fintech perspective, the most critical finding isn't just the leak, but where the fee lands. The study found that 19 of the 21 vehicles tested transmitted traffic to at least one third party. More concerningly, seven of the 30 companion mobile apps analyzed shared sensitive data—including phone numbers, emails, precise location, and vehicle identification numbers (VIN)—with third-party entities focused on advertising and tracking.

This creates a high-resolution behavioral pipeline. By combining multiple data points, advertisers and data brokers can construct in-depth consumer profiles. TechCrunch reports that these profiles are then sold to a variety of financial institutions, specifically banks and insurance companies, making the data nearly impossible for consumers to scrub once it enters the financial ecosystem.

The study also highlighted a multiplier effect: pairing a vehicle with its companion app roughly doubled the exposure to tracking and advertising firms. The list of recipients for this data includes tech giants such as Google, Meta, Microsoft, Adobe, Yahoo, Snap, and ContentSquare.

When confronted with these findings, the researchers noted that almost every manufacturer shifted the blame, often pointing toward the consumers. The sole exception was Honda, which responded by updating its data collection practices and ordering its vendor, Amplitude, to delete all received geolocation data. Other automakers told Consumer Reports that some data collection may occur via cookies on external webpages opened through companion apps, though drivers were not informed of these practices.