When renting a car in the past, the most anyone worried about was refilling the gas tank or leaving a personal item behind. Today, with mobile devices and connected cars, renters need to be aware that personal data can now unknowingly be left behind as well.
How does this happen?
“If you use the USB port to charge the phone and it is set up to do some syncing, there is the potential that it could have captured your web sites, contacts, music and text messages, depending on how your phone is set up. Bluetooth would be a bit harder to capture that information, but it is there,” said David Harris, director of network systems for Baptist Technology Services (BTS).
According to the Federal Trade Commission’s warnings in the last couple of years, a car’s electronic system can easily hijack your personal data if you connect a mobile device via a USB.
The recommendation when renting a car is to use the cigarette lighter plug and not the USB port to charge the phone.
To learn more about how to protect your data, take a moment to visit read more.
