GPS Maker Sorry For Selling Customer Data
Navigation device maker TomTom has apologized for supplying driving data collected from customers to police to use in catching speeding motorists.
The data, including historical speed, has been sold to local and regional governments in the Netherlands to help police set speed traps, Dutch newspaper AD reported here, with a Google translation here. As more smartphones offer GPS navigation service, TomTom has been forced to compensate for declining profit by increasing sales in other areas, including the selling of traffic data.
On Wednesday, Europe’s biggest satnav device maker apologized, saying it sold the data believing it would improve traffic safety and reduce bottlenecks, The Associated Press reported.
The TomTom statement. TomTom CEO Harold Goddijn on data privacy:
