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A 2026 test of 21 vehicles and 30 automaker apps found that most contacted outside advertising or analytics companies. Researchers also identified seven tested apps that sent personally identifying information to an outside company. But the findings do not show what every vehicle transmission contained, or prove how every recipient used the information.
What the study found
Northeastern University researchers partnered with Consumer Reports to examine 21 vehicles representing 19 brands and 30 companion apps at Consumer Reports’ Connecticut Auto Test Center. Consumer Reports reported that 19 of the 21 vehicles contacted at least one outside advertising or analytics company over Wi-Fi, and 28 of the 30 apps contacted at least one such company. Consumer Reports’ September 29, 2026 report and Northeastern’s account describe the study and its limits.
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Those are two different observations: a vehicle contacted a third-party domain, or an app transmitted information researchers could inspect. A contact does not by itself establish what information the vehicle sent, and neither observation proves what the recipient did with it.
How researchers tested cars and apps
The team rerouted vehicle internet traffic to networks it controlled. Consumer Reports says researchers intercepted Wi-Fi traffic while vehicles were stationary and driven, and used a Faraday enclosure to isolate Wi-Fi from cellular signals. For app testing, they logged into the apps on test phones and used features such as locating the car and checking service history.
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The researchers could identify destinations for vehicle network traffic, but vehicle payloads were encrypted, so they could not inspect exactly what data each vehicle transmitted. In some cases, they could decrypt traffic from the companion apps on phones they controlled and identify particular information being shared. The evidence for vehicle contact with outside domains is therefore stronger than any claim about the contents of every vehicle transmission.
What the app findings say about personal information
Consumer Reports said seven of the 30 tested apps sent personally identifying information—such as an owner’s name, vehicle identification number (VIN), or precise location—to an outside company. Its examples of apps observed sharing a VIN paired with an email address or location were:
- myCadillac, myChevrolet, myBuick, and myGMC
- HondaLink and MyNissan
- Lincoln
These findings describe the tested app versions and observed behavior, not every release or every user’s experience. The report also names Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Pinterest, Snap, and Yahoo among major technology companies appearing as reported recipients. Some may serve connected-car software or advertising infrastructure; appearing as a recipient does not establish the purpose of every individual transmission.
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Why pairing identifiers can matter
A VIN linked with a name, email address, or location can make it easier to connect vehicle ownership with behavioral or purchase profiles. Northeastern reported the researchers’ concern that stable identifiers and personal information could enable cross-context tracking, linking a vehicle owner with data from other websites and mobile apps. That is a described risk—not evidence that every recipient made such a link.
What the Honda example shows
Northeastern reported that researchers found Honda’s app sending location data to Amplitude, after which Honda asked the company to delete the data and updated the app to stop sending geolocation to that advertising company. Honda’s spokesperson said the shared data was contractually barred from independent use or sale. The episode shows a reported app behavior and the company’s response; it does not establish how other manufacturers’ data arrangements work.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Vehicle domain counts are not a privacy ranking
Consumer Reports’ vehicle-by-vehicle table counted advertising, tracking, and analytics (ATA) domains separately from other outside domains. The following figures are ATA-domain counts from the study’s Wi-Fi test, not measurements of data volume, sensitivity, or every vehicle of the same model.
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| Tested vehicle | ATA domains contacted over Wi-Fi | Source and qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Tesla Model 3 | 34 | Consumer Reports, 2026 study test |
| Tesla Cybertruck | 23 | Consumer Reports, 2026 study test |
| Mercedes-Benz EQS | 1 | Consumer Reports, 2026 study test |
| Buick Envista | 1 | Consumer Reports, 2026 study test |
A larger domain count means more ATA domains were contacted in this test; it does not, on its own, tell you what data each received or how sensitive it was. The study is a limited controlled sample, not a universal ranking of cars or proof that all examples of a model behave identically.
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What owners can do about data sharing
There is no single control path established by these findings that works across automakers. To understand the choices for your own vehicle, check its current automaker-account settings, in-car privacy settings, and companion-app permissions. Review what each control says it affects: turning off an app permission should not be assumed to stop telemetry sent directly by the vehicle.
Northeastern says manufacturers’ app privacy policies disclosed possible sharing but did not identify all third parties and purposes. That opacity matters when weighing whether to opt out: researchers argue that manufacturers should make opting out easier and avoid forcing owners to give up major functionality. Northeastern co-author David Choffnes put the trade-off this way: “It’s not reasonable that we’re in a situation where if they opt out of this kind of data collection, they mostly brick their cars.”
The study’s scope also limits what can be inferred about the full connected-car ecosystem. Researchers could not inspect vehicle payloads, and cellular traffic was not examined as fully as controlled Wi-Fi traffic; a secondary account describes the Wi-Fi observations as a lower bound on third parties vehicles might reach. The findings establish frequent third-party contact in the tested sample, but not a complete map of every flow or its downstream use.
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