Your car's location data is yours—not the manufacturer's to sell

What it does

This bill requires car manufacturers to let owners access and control all data their vehicles collect—location, performance, sensor readings—at no extra cost, in real time, and without proprietary locks. Manufacturers cannot sell this data without explicit written consent, and are banned from sharing it with hostile foreign governments (China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela). The FTC enforces it as consumer fraud.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core mechanism is straightforward: it grants vehicle owners property rights over their own data and restricts manufacturer monetization. It is a consumer-protection statute, not a technical carve-out or subsidy.

What the text implies

• Manufacturers may respond by reducing data collection or disabling wireless transmission features, potentially limiting vehicle diagnostics and remote safety features that depend on data sharing.
• The ban on sharing with five named hostile nations is explicit but may create ambiguity around data-sharing partnerships with allied nations or third-party vendors with foreign ties.
• The requirement for a 'technology-neutral, standards-based, secure interface' may force manufacturers to open proprietary vehicle APIs, disrupting existing aftermarket and OEM service ecosystems.
• The 3-month implementation window is tight; manufacturers may face compliance costs that could be passed to consumers through higher vehicle prices, offsetting the 'no cost' promise.

Who it affects

Ordinary car owners gain direct control over their own vehicle data, eliminating a hidden revenue stream for manufacturers and closing a surveillance loophole. The ban on sharing with adversarial nations addresses a genuine national-security concern. The only cost is manufacturer compliance, which does not fall on consumers.

Who stands to gain

• data-privacy software vendors
• independent vehicle-service providers
• aftermarket diagnostic-tool manufacturers

Named in the bill

Federal Trade Commission, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Transportation, Federal Communications Commission, motor vehicle manufacturers, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, People's Republic of China, Russian Federation, Islamic Republic of Iran, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Where it stands

8 cosponsors: 8 Republicans.

• Dec 16, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Dec 16, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

5 lobbying clients named this bill on 8 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $860,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 2 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 78% of bills with at least one filing.

Eric Burlison, the sponsor, reported $292,530 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• American Vehicle Owners Alliance — $300,000 on 2 filings
• Avis Budget Group, Inc. — $240,000 on 1 filing
• Enterprise Holdings, Inc. Dba Enterprise Mobility — $220,000 on 2 filings
• Enterprise Mobility — $60,000 on 1 filing
• American Car Rental Association — $40,000 on 2 filings

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.