[Automotive and Law] Who Owns the Data My Car Creates?

The ownership of data generated by increasingly sophisticated vehicles remains a significant legal gray area in South Korea. Modern cars, often dubbed 'smartphones on wheels,' continuously produce data, including location, driving habits, vehicle status, and even in-car voice commands. However, car owners often find themselves unable to freely access or verify this data, as the rights to extract and interpret it typically lie with manufacturers and investigative agencies.

South Korean law currently lacks a clear definition of 'vehicle data ownership.' Under the Civil Code, ownership primarily applies to tangible objects, making intangible data difficult to classify as property. While the Data Industry Act protects businesses that create data assets, it does not grant explicit ownership rights to individual car owners. Personal information and GPS location data receive some protection under specific laws, and owners do have the right to request data from event data recorders (EDR). Yet, access to everyday driving logs, location information, and vehicle status data largely depends on the terms set by manufacturers.

This situation creates a paradox: while the car is legally owned by the individual, control over the data it generates rests elsewhere. With over 7 million connected cars in South Korea, representing more than a quarter of all registered vehicles, services like Bluelink and Kia Connect transmit data to servers constantly. This data collection continues even if smartphone apps are deleted, requiring users to manually disable features or formally cancel services to stop it. Failure to do so can lead to privacy breaches, such as a previous owner's location being exposed to a new owner of a used car if connected services are not properly terminated.

The rise of Usage-Based Insurance (UBI) policies, which offer discounts for safe driving based on data like mileage and driving behavior, further complicates matters. While attractive for cost savings, these policies require users to consent to the transmission of their driving data to insurance companies. Many users agree without fully understanding the extent of data usage, potentially turning data that provides discounts into evidence that could be used against them in case of an accident. Legal experts advise drivers to be cautious, selectively opt-out of non-essential data sharing, promptly request data preservation after an accident, and ensure all digital traces are erased when selling or disposing of a vehicle to prevent future complications.