In January of this splendid (so to speak) 2022, a piece of news was reported by some newspapers but it probably went unnoticed by most, myself included.
This is the strategic partnership between Stellantis and Amazon.
I remember that Stellantis (with headquarters in the Netherlands) is the automotive multinational born in 2021 from the merger of the Italian-American Fiat Chrysler and the French PSA. I don't think it's necessary to remember what Amazon is.
The strategic partnership will ensure that Alexa (Amazon's virtual assistant) will be natively included in the vehicles produced by the group, in order to perform the functions related to numerous voice commands. According to some articles, Alexa will also have the task of managing not only the vehicle but also the home automation relating to the vehicle owner, combining numerous functions in a single interface.
Amazon will manage the data generated by all Stellantis vehicles, more than twelve million at the moment (34 million expected by 2030), which will allow the development of new services.
Among the novelties there is also the development of a new generation of chips for passenger cars, adapted to the needs of car manufacturers.
Of course, several questions could be asked about the partnership.
La first question concerns the processing of data by the multinational (Stellantis), which despite its headquarters in the Netherlands, therefore in Europe, is owned, among others, for 14% by Exor NV (controlled by the Agnelli family), for 7 % of PSA (Peugeot SA) and 3% of Dongfeng Motor Corporation (Chinese state automobile manufacturer based in Wuhan).
What are the possible problems that could occur? Where will the personal data be stored? Who should I contact in case of legal problems? Who will be liable if a ransomware should compromise systems and block cars or homes, perhaps entire neighborhoods?
In the event of a war (and the commercial and financial one we know is always ongoing) what can happen? If credentials are stolen, millions of cars and related properties could be hacked, blocked, destroyed.
And who would bet on the safety of political figures or military or faction leaders considered enemies? What could happen in the event of a state attack on the automatic driving systems of millions of cars, perhaps to create chaos prior to a conventional attack?
La second question it concerns the possibilities for Alexa to use the data for analysis and subsequent enhancement. How will the data be used? For the development of services useful in some way to the user but also, and above all, to improve the profits of multinationals that are undoubtedly in a position of strength.
La third question it's about cyber security. Are we sure that it is useful to make the world in which we move and work every day even more connected? Attention, I'm certainly not one of those who say that technology is the devil, technology (digital in particular) is useful in many aspects, but it is also very vulnerable.
Once again, we individual buyers will not be able to do anything but see what happens, hoping not to have to pay the consequences.
Renzo Arbore would say: "Think people think..."
To learn more:
- Partenariat stratégique d'ampleur between Stellantis et Amazon (incyber.fr);
- Official Global Website | Stellantis;
- Amazon Alexa Official Site: What is Alexa?
- Stellantis and Amazon Collaborating on Connected Vehicles | Datamation;
- Amazon's tech is headed to millions of Stellantis vehicles in 2024 | TechCrunch
