California Privacy Protection Agency × American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
The California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) announced its first enforcement settlement with American Honda Motor Co., which agreed to pay a $632,500 fine. [131, 132] The action stemmed from an investigation into the data privacy practices of connected vehicle manufacturers, finding that Honda shared consumers' personal information with ad tech companies without required contractual safeguards and made it difficult for consumers to opt out of data sharing. [131, 133] Honda did not admit liability but agreed to change its privacy practices and undergo remediation. [131]
The asset
A settlement payment to resolve claims of violating the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) related to the handling of consumer personal information from connected vehicles. [131, 132]
The record
- Seller status
- Going concern
- Sector
- Automotive
- Modalities
- location data, automotive data, consumer PII
- Jurisdiction
- US
- Personal data
- The settlement required Honda to change its business practices, including implementing a simpler process for consumers to assert privacy rights and ensuring proper contracts are in place to protect personal information shared with third parties. [131, 132, 133]
What it means if you hold data
This is the first enforcement action by California's dedicated privacy agency, signaling increased regulatory scrutiny on how automotive companies collect, use, and share the vast amounts of data generated by connected vehicles. The settlement underscores the financial and compliance risks associated with consumer location and driving behavior data, even when no data is directly 'sold' in a traditional sense.