A significant number of used car buyers are finding personal data from previous owners still stored in their vehicles’ infotainment systems, according to a survey conducted by online marketplace Carwow.

It found that one-third (33%) of new owners found such data and further highlighted that a substantial majority of buyers (83%) expect dealers to take responsibility for wiping personal data from cars before resale.

Under current regulations, ‘personal data’ includes any information that could identify an individual, such as home addresses, email addresses, or phone numbers.

The presence of such data in used cars points to a potential privacy concern for dealers, according to Gaurav Jain, commercial director at Carwow: “It can be unclear whether the responsibility to delete user information from a vehicle at change of ownership lies with the first owner, the manufacturer, or the dealer.”

Jain suggested that the allocation of responsibility could be determined by identifying the  ‘controller’ of the data under GDPR laws and said there should be clearer guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on this issue.