The recent news is that automakers have been collecting and keeping information about where you have been. According to a US government watchdog, the owners of the cars can’t demand that the data about where they have been be destroyed.

According to the Government Accountability Office, they found that major carmakers have differing policies about how much information they can collect and how long they can keep it. Media reports confirm that the carmakers collect location data to provide drivers with real-time traffic situation, to help find the nearest gas station, or to provide emergency roadside assistance.

So, Toyota, Honda and Nissan found themselves at the centre of the investigation, as well as navigation system creators Garmin and TomTom and developers of Google Maps and Telenav. Apparently, automakers had taken steps to protect privacy and were never selling personal information of owners, but it didn’t change the fact that drivers aren’t aware of all risks.

Some experts say that more work needed to be done to ensure privacy protections for in-car navigation systems and mapping applications. Perhaps, the location privacy legislation will be reintroduced later in 2014.

With cars getting smarter, there is more than just navigation systems providing interesting information. Event data recorders, known worldwide as "black boxes," store information in the event of crashes. Such transponders as EZ-PASS transmit location and can even be used by law enforcement and for research. Moreover, some car owners agree to monitoring of driving habits in order to qualify for lower insurance rates or to keep tabs on young drivers.

A contractor working with these three companies told the Government Accountability Office that when a consumer requests services, such data as location, VIN and other information may be kept for up to 7 years.