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As of April 2018, all new cars manufactured in Europe are fitted with the eCall emergency system. It automatically dials Europe's single emergency number 112 in the event of a crash and sends data about the car - including location - to emergency services. Some carmakers, it seems, use it for something else as well.
A recent report by British publication The Sun claims that Mercedes-Benz "spies on drivers by secretly installing tracking devices in cars and passing information to bailiffs." A practice that, at first glance, might seem horrifying.
The story goes a bit like this. The Sun says these "secret" trackers are placed inside the Mercedes cars. They are allegedly used without the customer's knowledge, when they fall behind on their leasing payments, to locate the vehicle and ease the process of Mercedes getting its property back.
It's unclear yet whether the trackers are part of the eCall system, but they are not linked to any of the services offered openly by Mercedes, the source says.
An unnamed Mercedes spokeswoman told CNN that drivers give their consent to be tracked when signing financing agreements, and the procedure is used "in a few exceptional cases and only as a last resort."
The exact facts around this story are still murky, but that didn't stop a former British cabinet minister, David Davis, from deciding to ask the government to get involved and investigate.
"This is not the first time big business has behaved like Big Brother — but it's rare to be quite as deceitful as this," he was quoted as saying by The Sun.
"I have to question whether it is even legal to pass on information to other people such as bailiffs. I would think the relevant minister ought to look very closely at the legality of this procedure."
We'll update if this story develops any further.
The story goes a bit like this. The Sun says these "secret" trackers are placed inside the Mercedes cars. They are allegedly used without the customer's knowledge, when they fall behind on their leasing payments, to locate the vehicle and ease the process of Mercedes getting its property back.
It's unclear yet whether the trackers are part of the eCall system, but they are not linked to any of the services offered openly by Mercedes, the source says.
An unnamed Mercedes spokeswoman told CNN that drivers give their consent to be tracked when signing financing agreements, and the procedure is used "in a few exceptional cases and only as a last resort."
The exact facts around this story are still murky, but that didn't stop a former British cabinet minister, David Davis, from deciding to ask the government to get involved and investigate.
"This is not the first time big business has behaved like Big Brother — but it's rare to be quite as deceitful as this," he was quoted as saying by The Sun.
"I have to question whether it is even legal to pass on information to other people such as bailiffs. I would think the relevant minister ought to look very closely at the legality of this procedure."
We'll update if this story develops any further.
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