Thieves Can Steal Your Personal Information From Your Old Car
Question: Are identity thieves stealing personal information about you from your old car? According to ABC News, many of today’s cars come with popular built-in features like GPS navigation, and Bluetooth connectivity. Those features are great to have while you own a car, but if you forget to reset them when you sell or trade an old car, security experts say it’ll be like handing thieves your house keys and cell phone!
Brian Cooley is a gadget expert who writes for the Website CNET.com. He says today’s vehicles are like “rolling smart phones,” loaded with personal information. For starters: The GPS system is programmed to keep track of the last few places you’ve driven to – including your home address. If your car has a hands-free Bluetooth system, Cooley says that’s capable of storing everything from your favorite music files, to the contact numbers saved in your cell phone.
Consider what happened to real estate agent Carlo Adams, after she traded in her car. She says she was setting up the new car’s Bluetooth computer, when she found a list of every phone number the previous owner had dialed! She says that’s when she realized the old car she’d just traded in contained the same information of hers. Know this: Bluetooth systems can be programmed to open your garage door, which is why our expert describes your car as the perfect tool for a home-invasion robbery.
Fortunately, Cooley says these high-tech car features are very easy to reset. In fact, with both systems, there’s generally a menu option that lets you delete all personal information in a few keystrokes. Whatever you do, Cooley says don’t trust your car dealer to clean up after you. In a recent survey conducted by the National Automobile Dealers Association, most were unaware that any of this was even an issue.
