I got a call from my local dealer yesterday out of the blue, offering to fit the "My Honda" system free of charge when it goes in for it's 2-year service on Monday. This involves fitting a dongle to the car (which seems to be a combination telematics box, GPS tracker, cellphone connectivity, and data logger). You then access the data via a smartphone app. For what it does, see here:
http://www.honda.co.uk/cars/owners/my-honda/my-honda.htmlAll for free, apparently (I believe the normal retail price is north of £200). Not sure why I got selected for this.
First thought was that I ought to bite their hand off ... freebies are worth having, right ? But having browsed the Ts&Cs (available through the same link), I'm now not so sure. Honda must be getting some benefit from this otherwise they wouldn't offer it; my thought is that the data is very valuable to them. They'll be amassing a whole lot of personal data about my car and me (including it's location) at all times, and it's not entirely clear what they'll be doing with that data or how well they'll be protecting it. They'll provide the service that's advertised, but what else will they be doing with my data ? Not clear.
Some issues that arise from the Ts&Cs:
1. I (and presumably anyone at Honda or their data manager Bright Box or whoevever they've granted system access to, eg police) will be able to track anyone driving the car by seeing how they're driving (including speed) and where they are; that raises privacy issues.
2. You can't stop the dongle transmitting the data, even if you decide you don't want to use that data by deleting the app. You have to go to a Honda dealer to get it deactivated. I wonder if that's going to be free, or indeed if people will remember to do it. If I don't deactivate it before selling the car, then presumably I'll be able to track the new owner ... privacy again. People will also have to be careful when buying a used Honda to check whether the car has one of these fitted.
3. The Ts&Cs say the subscription ends after 3 years, but can be renewed. Presumably at that point it will cease to be free.
I also note that the Android app scores a stunning 2 stars on the Play Store (
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bbenterprise.myhonda&hl=en_GB), with lots of complaints that it just doesn't work, even from those who've had the system installed and set up by Honda.
What do others think ? Is this too good an offer to turn down ? Or do the privacy concerns outweigh the advantages ? Am I being unreasonably paranoid ?