Today, rumors have surfaced that Waymo, a ride-hailing company, may use data from internal vehicle cameras to train artificial intelligence and sell targeted ads to drivers. However, the company is trying to allay concerns by insisting that it will not target ads to passengers.
The situation arose after researcher and engineer Jane Manchun Wong discovered an unpublished version of Waymo’s privacy policy that suggested the robotics company could start using data from its vehicles to train generative AI. The draft policy includes language allowing customers to opt out of Waymo’s use of “your personal information (including internal camera data associated with your identity) for AI training.” Wong’s revelation also suggests that Waymo may use this camera footage to sell personalized ads to drivers.
Later in the day, The Verge received comments on this unpublished privacy policy from Waymo spokesperson Julia Ilina. “Waymo’s [machine learning] systems are not designed to use this data to identify individuals, and we have no plans to use this data for targeted advertising,” she said. Ilina said the version Wong found contains “placeholder text that does not accurately reflect the feature’s purpose” and noted that the feature is still in development. It “will not make any changes to Waymo’s Privacy Policy, but rather offer drivers the option to opt out of data collection for anti-money laundering training purposes.”
Let’s hope that Waymo sticks to these statements. Privacy and security are of great concern as AI companies try to provide their models with as much information as possible. Waymo is owned by Alphabet, and Google is developing its own AI assistant Gemini, as well as other AI projects with its DeepMind division.
