Used Car's Navigation System Contains Too Much Information

[size=10pt][size=10pt]By Abigail Van Buren Abigail Van Buren – Sun Apr 11, 2:16 am ET[/size][/size]

DEAR ABBY: I bought a used car with a navigation system last week and noticed that the previous owner's information was still embedded in the system. Abby, I had that man's home address, the addresses of his friends, his bank, his workplace -- every place he had gone.

Please inform your readers that if they sell a car with a navigation system, they should first delete all of their information. Car dealerships should also be aware of this and, perhaps, erase the information from the system as part of their vehicle inspection. -- JENNIFER IN LEE'S SUMMIT, MO.

DEAR JENNIFER: Your letter raised some eyebrows among me and my staff, so we canvassed some of the used car dealerships in the Los Angeles area. They're already aware of it. Those we spoke to stated that they are not legally required to delete information from a navigation system, and all agreed that the seller is responsible for removing the information before selling the car.

I am sure many readers will thank you for the warning.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucda/2010041...uchinformation

Isn't that interesting?

Thank you!

CC

The information was created by the owner and stored in the vehicle. If the owner chooses to sell that information with the vehicle then he releases copyright to that information. Why should there be some governmental requirement that buyers must destroy freely bought property?