Remember when you were a teenager, and mum told you not to speed? And remember all the fun you had trying to break 160 on that straightaway down by the river? Well, the next generation of young rebels might not be so lucky.
Truvolo is, for all intents and purposes, a tracking device for cars. With the stated mission of making driving “safer and smarter”, the company sells a little devices that connects to your car’s onboard computer to “send alerts when the car surpasses a certain speed, when loved ones reach their destinations and updates on car performance along with any potential problems”. In other words, it lets parents spy on their kids and punish them when they go too fast.
What’s wrong with that? Well, at the very base level, nothing at all. Teenagers are often bad drivers. They go too fast. They text and drive. The list goes on. You can’t help but wonder about the privacy implications of strapping a third party tracking device onto your car, though. As the big dustup over GM’s OnStar system showed us a couple years ago, people don’t like the idea of their cars being tracked, even if they opt into it. And exactly how secure is the system? What if hackers break in?
Truvulo stands by its security and privacy policies. The device and app do track your location and driving activity, including information about speed and diagnostics. In its privacy policy, the company does say it “may share your information with third party service providers who perform marking or other services on [its] behalf” as well as disclose your personal information with law enforcement if deemed necessary for an investigation. But again, the company says it’s safe from hackers.
Starting on Tuesday, the company is raising money on Indiegogo to fund the first production run. If you’re worried about what your kids are doing behind the wheel, Truvulo might help your peace of mind. If you’re worried about privacy, not so much.
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