110 Iowa L. Rev. 43 (2024)
Abstract
Vehicle monitoring and collection (“VMC”) technology, including starter interrupt devices that remotely disable vehicles, and other GPS tracking devices are used in consumer vehicle agreements in subprime transactions. Subscription-based models supported by VMC features, such as over-the-air software updates that remotely disable or enable vehicular functions, have also appeared in the non-subprime automobile context as well. This Article contends that the rise in VMC technology and features raises several alarming privacy, electronic subjugation, and cybersecurity risks. The Article makes an express link between the consumer risks and harms associated with the use of VMC technology in subprime lending transactions and the broader technological shift towards a subscription-based service model supported by VMC features in non-subprime vehicle transactions. The Article’s evaluation and critique of VMC technology and features is conducted simultaneously through the lens of commercial law, state VMC technology statutes, state privacy laws, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), and federal frameworks governing transactions involving consumer vehicles. I argue that these legal regimes do not consistently protect consumer interests and are insufficient to comprehensively meet the challenges associated with the VMC age. The Article concludes by offering a detailed path forward.