Past drivers’ phone models, contacts, call logs, internet radio stations, and GPS information can be accessed through the infotainment system of the rental car. When we’re talking about call logs, we’re talking about the date, time, and duration of a phone call to a specific number, and whether the call was incoming or outgoing. This information can be used to put name to number through internet search engines, and then paired with GPS tracking data to put number to name to place.
GPS data alone can allow the next driver to see exactly where you went on your trip, the sequence of your travels, how long it took you to get there, and how long you stayed. Again, with just a simple internet search, anyone could find out what address numbers mean and gain insight into the purpose of your trip, personal habits and haunts, and where your associates work and live.
Along with digital data, physical evidence that gives the next renter information about you can be left in the car. While rental agency workers are supposed to thoroughly clean each car between rentals, they commonly miss details like dropped business cards and hotel keys.
While rental agencies should do a factory reset on the car’s computer to wipe any synched personal information or devices from the car, many do not. This is because it is currently legally unclear whose responsibility data security is in this context. That means the default is you.
Here is how to protect yourself against revealing too much information to the next rental car driver:
1. Clean the car out yourself thoroughly. Don’t trust the rental agency to do this for you. Make sure to remove every physical trace of yourself and your trip from the car before you turn in the keys.
2. Reset the computer system on the car before you return it. This process can vary between all of the makes and models of cars, which is likely a major reason why a factory reset is not a routine part of cleaning protocol between renters. In most cases, simply go to the Settings menu and choose “Factory Reset.” This wipes your GPS and call history from the car and makes the computer system forget your phone. Unless the next renter is a forensics specialist – who has ways of recovering wiped data from the car – your data will be safe.