Privacy4Cars, a privacy-tech company focused on solving privacy and security issues posed by vehicle data, announced on Nov. 14 that it has secured a new patent for removing privacy information from a vehicle by using a user computing device. This patent grant marks the fourth that the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office has awarded to Privacy4Cars in the past three years. 

Since it launched in 2018, Privacy4Cars has helped auto finance companies, fleets and fleet management companies, and franchised and independent dealerships. According to the company, many companies in the automotive space — including the three largest OEMs — have adopted the Privacy4Cars data deletion service, and a growing number of industry associations have begun speaking out about the need to clear personal information from cars.

“Used vehicles are akin to large, unencrypted hard drives full of consumers’ sensitive personal information, including identifiers, geolocation, biometrics, and phone records,” said Andrea Amico, CEO and founder of Privacy4Cars. “This creates service, reputation, and increasingly major regulatory challenges, including the obligations companies face under the new Safeguards Rule (coming into effect on Dec. 9, 2022) and a host of existing and new state laws. At the same time, federal and local agencies are increasingly concerned about the personal information vehicles capture and store, which is driving more and more auto businesses to look for reliable solutions to simply and effectively delete data from vehicles while creating by design detailed compliance logs that prove their efforts. This new patent demonstrates Privacy4Cars’ commitment to meet the growing compliance and service needs of our partners.”

Privacy4Cars’ newly awarded U.S. Patent No. 11,494,514 expands the scope of patent protection for the vehicle data privacy and security innovations of Privacy4Cars’ prior patents. The new patent covers the use of a user computing device to remove privacy information from a vehicle and to create feedback about the information removal activity, including deletion logs for use in legal compliance applications. 

Privacy4Cars is currently available in the U.S., Canada, U.K., EU, Middle East, India, and Australia, and plans to further expand its geographical reach to address the growing number of countries that have comprehensive privacy and data security laws. Privacy4Cars is available to consumers as a free-to-download app, and to businesses as a subscription service. Businesses can use Privacy4Cars' standalone app or choose to integrate Privacy4Cars’ Software Development Kit to embed its patented data deletion solution as a feature inside their own apps.