Re: exactly WHAT data is it storing?
Many cars have had 3G/4G connectivity with telemetry being phoned home out of the box for years now.
My 2014 BWM (pre-facelift, so already had an old infotainment system from a few years earlier), has an emergency hands free phone feature, that doesn't need a paired phone to work (it activates if the car thinks it's been in a crash, or manually).
The Android app also shows you where the car is on a map, using GPS data, it is not talking to the car directly, I'm too far away, so I assume this must be sent via the cars built in 3G link back to head office, which is where the app picks it up from.
So even though that car is too old for things like over-the-air updates, or proper Apple/Android integration (other than basic phone calls and contacts etc.), it still has basic GPS tracking and data connectivity.
I would suspect that most at least mid range+ cars from 10+ years ago, and likely all new cars for the last 5+ years (apart from perhaps some really budget brands), have all basically been phoning home, providing telemetry etc.
After all, as a car company, knowing usage patterns, mileage, number of trips, how far each trip etc, is all useful, to them!
Biting the hand that feeds IT
