Waymo Sets Course For In-Car Cameras To Train AI, Will It Sell Ads Too?
Robotaxi service provider Waymo might be prepping to use its in-vehicle cameras to train AI as well as target ads to riders. This info comes a leaked draft policy which the company confirms is real, but asserts besides being a feature in development, the document is full of "placeholder text" and that Waymo machine learning (ML) data isn't designed to identify individuals in the first place.
Waymo is working on Generative AI training using “interior camera data associated with rider’s identity,” provides opt-opts for this and data sharing under CCPA
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) April 5, 2025
Waymo explicitly states in this unreleased Privacy page it may share your data for personalized ads pic.twitter.com/wDUu867Eh3
Reliable tech scooper Jane Wong Man Chun has somehow gotten her hands on an unreleased Waymo rider policy with some interesting ramifications. The terms in the screenshot clearly sates that "Waymo may share data to improve and analyze its functionality and to tailor products, services, ads, and offers to your interests," sparking some privacy concerns that Waymo plans to use in-cabin video captured from its self-driving taxis to potentially peddle goods and services to riders.
Granted, there are two opt-out options that allow customers to prevent Waymo from selling or sharing their personal information or use the data to train its own generative AI (GAI) models. The opt-out isn't necessarily by the goodwill and thoughtfulness of the company, but is provided to comply to California's Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which gives California residents the control over how their personal information is used and sold.
However, there are a couple of issues with this. Waymo's burgeoning fully autonomous ride-hailing service has spread to Phoenix with plans to spread to Austin, Miami, Las Vegas, and beyond. While Texas and Florida have similar privacy protection rights as the CCPA, Arizona doesn't. Another possible issue is if riders order a Waymo taxi via another service like Uber—will customers have the option to opt-in/out of Waymo's policy?
Waymo's stance on the controversial ads language, as provided to The Verge, is that the policy (and feature) is still under development. If anything the company states that "the data is used among other things, to train models for safety, to make sure cars are clean, find lost items, provide help in case of emergency, check that in-car rules are being followed and improve products and services. Waymo’s ML systems are not designed to use this data to identify individual people, and there are no plans to use this data for targeted ads."
We hope Waymo is true to its word, but since it's a Google-owned company, many are understandably dubious.
