Member-only story
Why the looming right-to-repair legislation will change the auto industry
Massachusetts voters passed an amendment in November to its upcoming 2021 right-to-repair law that will have national repercussions for the industry. It has the potential to change the landscape of how consumers access and use data from their cars.
The amendment is meant to allow drivers and independent service technicians access to the telematics data their cars transmit back to the OEM — and that may seem like an easy ask. But OEMs closely guard telematics data for legal, intellectual property, and lock-in considerations.
Being forced to implement an open data platform has the power to create a ripple effect across the industry, as data will become available to a much broader audience. OEMs may not want competitors to access their customers’ data but there are also privacy implications to consider. Customers need to know their data is protected.
The reality is OEMs have until August 2021 to meet initial compliance and be ready to start selling updated 2022 model-year cars by October 2021. But creating a platform to share consistent telematics data can have its challenges.
