When it comes to personal data, we're on a highway to hell

Kettle Far gone are the days when a car was a dumb machine you turned on and drove from A to B. Today it's a smartphone on wheels, and your data is possibly being taken for a ride.

In a judgment affecting multiple class-action lawsuits, a US court has ruled automakers can harvest the data exchanged when owners sync their phones with their car's internal systems. El Reg's Brandon Vigliarolo has the full details, and discusses it today with fellow vultures senior reporter Thomas Claburn, cybersecurity editor Jessica Lyons Hardcastle, and US editor Iain Thomson.

You can replay our whole chat below – or listen in via your favorite podcast syndication channel: Apple, Amazon, Spotify, Google, etc.

Such personal data is both commercially valuable, but also increasingly being sought by governments, as Jessica explains.

And, outside of the Land of the Free, European privacy protections are being wielded in an attempt to curb Big Tech. Thomas has the full details after being on the case for months.

Your host Iain directs the chat, and our video and audio podcasts are produced by Nicole Hemsoth Prickett. Find previous Kettle-casts here. ®