Data protection and responsible handling of customer data are our key priority at BMW, and BMW AG processes personal data in line with the applicable legal requirements. Customers can find out more from the data protection notice on the relevant BMW Group brand website for their country. This describes in detail the data we use and the purposes we use it for.

Customers can change their privacy settings and data granularity at any time via the data privacy menu in their cars, the My BMW app or their BMW profile on the internet.

Data is collected from vehicles only if it is essential for the operation of specific services within the ConnectedDrive contract or if the customer has explicitly given their consent. With the current generation of vehicles, by entering into a ConnectedDrive contract with BMW AG, customers can use connected functions. Sensitive functions such as speech recognition have to be explicitly activated by the customer. Wherever possible, data is processed purely locally, within the vehicle. Some security functions, such as the Fatigue Assistant, process information (e.g. infrared image data) exclusively locally, within the vehicle, and do not share any data with the BMW Group.

card into a vehicle back in 1997 to offer intelligent emergency calls for the first time. Since then, we have put more than 22 million connected vehicles onto the roads. Today the BMW Group fleet as a whole now covers almost the entire (99%) German autobahn network in 24 hours, collecting 56 million items of data from road signs in Germany alone. Over 6 million vehicles generate real-time traffic information, collecting just under 500 million data items on average per day in the EMEA region and about 250 million in the US.

With each newly registered vehicle, the connected fleet grows a little more. Meanwhile, the degree of connectivity and the in-car sensors – comprising cameras, radars, ultrasound and infrared – are improving all the time. Vehicles are becoming increasingly high-tech, able to detect and process more and more data about their surroundings. The information they collect doesn’t just benefit the vehicle’s own functions; data sharing means all the other cars in the fleet gain from “swarm intelligence” too. This means that each vehicle has access to selected information and analyses from millions of other cars, so if a single one detects ice on the road at the end of a bend, the information will be validated and shared with all the others following on the same piece of road – before they detect the hazard themselves.

In certain instances, it can make sense to combine real-time data with data from long-term analyses, as this even allows the fleet intelligence to make predictions. For example, as well as showing the driver where they can park, the car can work out the probability of the spaces being free at the estimated time of arrival. It can then use this data to calculate the rest of the route exactly so as to maximise the chances of finding a parking spot close to the destination – saving the customer time and trouble. In Berlin, for example, cruising for parking accounts for up 40 percent of total traffic (source: German Federal Government, 2017). Reducing it overall would enable massive savings on fuel and emissions in cities – to everyone’s benefit.

Data is fundamental not only to developing innovative services and new functions but also for improving efficiency, quality and safety. At the BMW Group it is processed in line with data protection laws, for the specific benefit of customers and society as well as the continued development of mobility. The spectrum ranges from local hazard warnings and on-street parking information to the customisation of digital services. On the road to automated driving, data is essential for training algorithms and for the virtual validation of driving functions.

For all the benefits, though, we remain uncompromising in our stance: for us at the BMW Group, security and data protection are our premium brand promise and an integral part of our development work. We give our customers transparency and control over how their data is used. Traffic information is anonymised, and data for quality assurance and product development is always pseodonymised so that it cannot be traced back to the customer. We also protect our vehicles from access by unauthorised third parties.