Ford Exec. Apologizes for Saying Company Tracks Drivers Via GPS

Company says its not true

Ford Motor Co. marketing chief Jim Farley on Thursday apologized for a remark he made Wednesday saying the Dearborn automaker tracks customers through in-car navigation devices.

Farley, the headliner at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, said Ford knows where and when customers drive their vehicles, but does not sell that information to third parties.

"We know everyone who breaks the law, we know when you're doing it," Farley said, according to a report in Business Insider. "We have GPS in your car, so we know what you're doing. By the way, we don't supply that data to anyone."

Ford on Thursday denounced those comments.

"Ford is absolutely committed to protecting our customers' privacy," company spokesman Wes Sherwood said. "We do not track our customers. No data is transmitted from the vehicle without the customer's express consent."

Customers give consent when they use a navigation or voice-activated system.

Comments

[Calypso Facto]

Corrected headline: "Ford Exec. Apologizes for ADMITTING Company Tracks Drivers Via GPS"

[VinnyG]

Exactly. Which version do you believe, the one blurted out in an uncharacteristic fit of candor (no doubt fueled by a massive overdose of hubris and possibly less virtual drugs) or the corporate damage-control lie issuesd as follow up? I bet they don't share any of the data they don't collect without explicit customer permission with the FBI or NSA, either (like MS, Google, BF, et al, they no doubt just leave the data where and how they know the jackboots can get to it to preserve plausible deniability). And I'm sure that whatever Ford doesn't do is also not done to the Marxmobiles sold by the likes of Fiat-Chrysler and Government Motors. This is another excellent reason (declining to support the governement/banking infrastructure is #1) not to purchase a new car.

-VG