By Alicia Asin, CEO of Libelium
Security, transparency and digital rights as a motor for the mobility of the future
According to the Mozilla Foundation, vehicles are the worst product category ever reviewed in terms of user privacy. A headline too striking to ignore. At Hermes, we wanted to go further. In a world where digital literacy still has a long way to go, we were struck by how little attention was being paid to an object that has been part of our lives long before the internet or smartphones.
Just a few years ago, talking about vehicles that think and act seemed like science fiction. Today, connected cars are computers on wheels: they capture data, communicate with urban infrastructure, and will soon make critical decisions about our safety—and that of other drivers and pedestrians—on the road. If we add autonomous vehicles into the equation, the complexity multiplies. These are not only vehicles transmitting information but machines automating decision-making in fractions of a second. They are the spearhead of a disruptive shift in mobility: safer, more efficient, more personalized. Yet they also embody our tensions as a digital society: how do we balance innovation with fundamental rights?
When I accepted the task of coordinating this seminar, my initial aim was to better understand the relationship between vehicles and their owners, and the contexts in which data exchange occurs. However, as we spoke with the various speakers, it became clear that limiting the analysis to the concept of a “connected vehicle” was merely scratching the surface. Connected mobility is a much more complex and diverse ecosystem, involving a multitude of actors, data, and decisions to discuss.
Every trip—or simply being parked—in a connected car generates an avalanche of data: some essential for road safety, others capable of revealing driving habits, frequent routes, musical tastes, or even our precise location. This wealth of information has become a strategic asset, opening up a true data marketplace where multiple stakeholders take part: manufacturers, tech companies, insurers, mobility operators, and even public administrations—all with a vested interest in accessing it.
When we introduce cybersecurity into the equation, the dimension of the challenge changes: digital risks become physical risks. A compromised car is not just a privacy issue; it is a vehicle that can be manipulated remotely, endangering its occupants and those around it. The possibility of an attacker taking remote control of a car makes cybersecurity the first line of defense for public safety.
More than an additional technical layer, cybersecurity must be understood as the very architecture of trust. We need systems capable of anticipating and detecting intrusions, continuous updates throughout the vehicle’s lifecycle, and clear
incident response protocols. Without this, the connected car risks ceasing to be an ally of road safety and becoming a rolling hazard.
This debate is even more relevant in the case of autonomous vehicles, which integrate algorithms to which we delegate decision-making in critical situations. That a machine can react faster than a human is clear. That it can calculate probabilities with greater precision is also true. What is not defined is “what it should do” in each critical scenario, nor who should decide this in advance.
Far from focusing only on the risks, our exploration of this ecosystem has also revealed a fascinating world: mobility that is more comfortable, sustainable, personalized, and of course, safer. According to McKinsey, the value of services linked to connected mobility could reach $400 billion by 2030. This is an immense opportunity that Europe cannot afford to miss.
That is why, in the seminar “When the Vehicle Knows Too Much: Privacy, Data and Regulation in the Mobility of the Future,” we sought to address the issue from a constructive perspective. The conclusion is clear: privacy and transparency should not be seen as obstacles for the industry, but as genuine drivers of innovation and trust. They are the differentiators that could place Europe at the forefront of connected, competitive, and sustainable mobility. The goal is not to burden an industry already under pressure from the energy transition and global competition, but to create and showcase new factors of differentiation.
The debate around connected vehicles should not be reduced to a race to impose more rules on manufacturers, but rather about regulating better: building a common, clear, and agile framework designed in dialogue with both industry and citizens. Only in this way can we guarantee legal certainty without stifling innovation.
From the seminar discussions, several concrete proposals emerged:
· Full functionality without surrendering personal data: ensuring by law that a connected car cannot condition its use on sharing private information.
· Clear and free consent: certifying the use of comprehensible language in contracts and applications, so that every user’s decision is truly informed.
· European mobility wallet: a tool that allows credentials (such as a driver’s license) to be verified without exposing unnecessary data.
· Independent ethical oversight: an external committee capable of monitoring the most sensitive risks and making impartial decisions.
Together, these ideas point toward a European model of connected mobility that combines technology with trust, efficiency with rights.
El seminario ha dejado claro que la transición hacia la movilidad conectada no es solo un reto tecnológico, sino también político, ético e industrial. Como europeos,
somos conscientes de los retos de nuestra industria, pero también de los valores que queremos preservar. Si lo hacemos bien, no solo impulsaremos coches más seguros y servicios más personalizados, sino que estaremos creando un nuevo estándar global en movilidad: competitivo, sostenible y profundamente humano.
The seminar made it clear that the transition toward connected mobility is not only a technological challenge but also a political, ethical, and industrial one. As Europeans, we are aware of the challenges facing our industry, but also of the values we want to preserve. If we succeed, we will not only drive safer cars and more personalized services, but we will also be creating a new global standard in mobility: competitive, sustainable, and profoundly human.