EXCLUSIVE: Privacy concerns after Hertz to include cameras
Posted April 1, 2015 7:39 pm.
Last Updated April 1, 2015 10:09 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Imagine if you just rented a Hertz vehicle and no one told you that there was an inward facing camera with microphones inside.
Hertz says it is taking the lead and installing cameras that promise to give customers a better in car experience, but some are raising privacy concerns.
Originally when CityNews contacted the company in Toronto, it said that the new camera-in-your-car technology was only being installed in the U.S.
But it has already arrived at Pearson Airport.
CityNews contacted Hertz head office and were told that 700 rental vehicles in Canada already have the new camera and microphones installed but Hertz said they are not currently activated.
Privacy Lawyer Philippa Lawson says, “What we do in our cars, what we say in our cars… we consider to be private.”
She says the concern is about how the cameras can be used with or without our knowledge in the future.
“We have very good laws in Canada but they are very general.”
Hertz told CityNews that they have no obligation to inform a customer about the camera and new technology because the cameras haven’t been activated yet.
In Canada, the company would have to gain the customer’s consent to activate the camera.
Hertz says that they are looking ahead and that video conferencing in vehicles could be the big next thing.
