When you have to kill a man it costs nothing to be polite - Winston Churchill
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Tomtom admits navigation data was used by police for speed traps
NAVIGATION DEVICE MAKER Tomtom has admitted that it has been inadvertently giving Dutch police data collected from its devices in order to set speed traps.
Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad revealed that the police were using the information to catch racing drivers, but Tomtom claims it never intended or foresaw this use.
The police gained access to the data after Tomtom gave it to the Dutch government, apparently oblivious that it might be used in ways that would anger customers. The company claims that it handed the data over to help make roads safer and less congested.
Tomtom's CEO, Harold Goddign, posted an apology to customers, saying that it won't happen again. He said the company is looking at whether or not it should allow the police to use the data it collected, suggesting that a decision has not yet been finalised.
He also outlined how Tomtom collects data, highlighting that there is an opt out available and that the traffic data is anonymous.
Despite the promises for future policies, the company championed its plans to sell traffic data to other governments in its latest fiancial reports, released earlier this week.
Discussing its latest results (PDF), Tomtom said that it had launched Traffic Stats, which is described as an "Online portal for governments and enterprises to access historical travel times and speeds for any given road."
The firm added that it had also released its speed cameras database available to third parties, a map that includes "Coverage of 34 million kilometres (21 million miles) and 103 countries."
Licensing revenue at the firm for the first quarter grew year on year by €3.4 million. µ
Tags: Security
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I would be more concerned about this development if it weren't for the fact that stand-alone GPS devices won't be around for much longer in the smart phone era, except perhaps for built-in units in airplanes and ships.
Thank you TomTom. As a rsponsible adult, I want safer roads. If the idiots that are racing get caught as a result of police speed traps, great! Then my family, friends and myself will be safer on the roads. Complainers abbout this are selfish jerks.
Selling the traffic trends of your customers should be in BOLD print on any Tom-Tom GPS device.
Anonymous or not they are (or were) your customers. With this revelation I think Tom-Tom's days as a GPS automobile device provider are numbered.
This is no different than the Apple iPhone/iPad reporting database and will be treated as such by all potential buyers.
Bye-Bye Tom-Tom
Serves you all right, now you should pay tickets for your own stupidity of sharing personal information with a corporate entity, information you collected on your own dime btw.
But fret none, I am sure human species will not learn from this as it failed to learn on previous occasions why PRIVACY is important.