TomTom Sells Data to Police to Set Up Better Speed Traps

Your GPS is being used against you. TomTom was not only tracking the location of its users, but they were also selling that data to police, who in turn used the data to set up better speed traps. TomTom has apologized for the incident and has promised to improve its data sharing policies.

TomTom CEO Harold Goodijn said in a video released by the company that the tracking issue was an optional feature that TomTom users could easily opt out of. Goodijn said that the company tracks user data so that they can make their devices more mapping software more effective by finding problem traffic areas.

TomTom also said that it gave information to police for a noble cause. TomTom thought that police would use the info to identify congested areas and to improve road safety. TomTom said that they were not aware that the police were using the information to set up more effective speed traps.

Consumer Reports notes that TomTom, like other stand alone GPS manufacturers, are losing market share to smart phone GPS devices.

[Source: Consumer Reports]