Mobility data supplier car: manufacturers want to market information centrally
Who can market what? there is still no clear legal framework for handling information from cars.
Berlin the german automotive industry has specified its plans for collecting data from the vehicles it sells and selling it to third parties such as insurance companies or garages – as well as to authorities that request this data, for example, for traffic control or fuel consumption checks. The concept is available to the Handelsblatt and will soon be submitted to the EU Commission.
With these plans, the industry wants to convince the EU Commission not to overload vehicles with new technical requirements again and again in view of the numerous regulation plans, but rather to serve all data wishes with one solution. Cars could use it to produce data like a smartphone, which would then be marketed centrally.
Until now, there has been no legal framework for the myriad of data generated in a vehicle that can be linked to the vehicle owner. only the technical data for repairs and maintenance are regulated. The industry itself, specifically the automotive industry association, wants to be the trustee for all data. However, potential data users such as the ADAC, the insurance industry and independent car repair shops are mobilizing against this. You call for a legal framework to safeguard competition.
Billion-dollar business in mobility data
Automakers and suppliers alike sense a big business opportunity that they don’t want to leave to third parties. Adaxo, "automotive data access, extended and open," is the association’s technical solution. This is an industry-owned data platform into which all relevant data from the vehicles in operation flow. It’s about "a comprehensive data offering that is supported by all vehicle manufacturers across all models" and with which "new business models" are to be created.
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In the five-page position paper, the VDA also states that adaxo is "fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory". The availability of the data and the access options should "not only relate to the vehicle, but also to the vehicle-related data at service providers, insurance companies, financing companies and in other downstream areas in the automotive environment.
Only in this way is it possible to develop new offers "in the interest of the customer". Their most valuable data is personal data, such as driving behavior. The industry hopes that vehicle owners will value the benefits of an insurance product ("pay as you drive") so highly that they will release their data. Active consent is necessary," the VDA emphasizes.
For data users, however, the plans are anything but enthusiastic. "from the insurers’ point of view, the adaxo concept is the wrong way to go about access to vehicle data. Together with many other associations in germany and europe, we are committed to the concept of a secure onboard telematics platform," said jorg asmussen, managing director of the insurance industry association. There, the data would be processed in the vehicle, and secure access would take place "according to strict criteria and decisions made by the owner or driver".
ADAC considers concept inadequate
Asmussen made it clear that in this way, the data would not have to be retrieved by the vehicle manufacturer "at a cost and to an inadequate extent as well as in insufficient quality. "we see the customer, not the vehicle manufacturer, as the contact for data collection."
The ADAC complains that technical details are not yet known and considers the concept to be "inadequate. The decisive factor is that consumers have their data at their disposal and that providers have non-discriminatory access to vehicle data. "the VDA concept does not meet either of these requirements," said ADAC technology president karsten schulze. "the data will continue to be controlled by the manufacturers, who will decide whether and which data will be made accessible.
The vehicle owner is not free to decide who has access to which data. Service providers such as independent workshops or automobile clubs are still dependent on the discretion of the manufacturers."
The german motor vehicle trade argues similarly. The adaxo concept would grant vehicle manufacturers rights that portray them as self-appointed "data collection contact persons," the association criticized in response to a query. "this means that the power to decide who can and may provide services in the vehicle lies exclusively with the vehicle manufacturer. This will result in massive restrictions on innovation and competition along all processes of the automotive value chain, from development, testing, operation and maintenance to warranty and cybersecurity management."
Automakers warn of hacker attacks
The VDA, however, warns against hacker attacks and argues with liability issues if third parties have access to the car and possibly change data. This would lead to complicated licensing issues and, above all, liability issues in the event of accidents.
With adaxo, manufacturers and suppliers want to set the standard for preparing data and making it available to third parties. Other data spaces such as the mobility data space (MDS) or the european gaia-X platform are the exchange point for all mobility data from traffic safety, infrastructure, local traffic and much more, in order to then develop multimodal offers, said the VDA.
However, companies can also contract with manufacturers directly through adaxo to access the data. "the goal is to be able to serve the data market more quickly and thus develop and offer new business models," the VDA said.
U.S. companies like apple and google are also entering the automotive market with their solutions.
Adaxo is the successor to the nevada data platform concept developed in 2016 under pressure from automotive supplier bosch. the project was on the brink of extinction in the spring when volkswagen pulled out and hoped for european regulation of data. So should competitors like tesla and toyota, but also the big data companies google, apple and co. Be subjected to the same rules.
Meanwhile volkswagen is back on board. So the industry can once again concentrate on setting rules at the technical level and thus contain the competition from america and asia and also profit from the data business. They want to equip their vehicles with operating systems and control access in their app stores – just like apple and co. For smartphones.