Honda is a connected-vehicle manufacturer whose U.S. arm, American Honda Motor Co., Inc., operates under a parent Privacy Notice that also covers its Tokyo-listed parent, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. The notice discloses a broad set of collected personal-information categories -- identifiers, protected-class characteristics, commercial and vehicle/telematics data, geolocation from mobile/web/vehicles, and content captured by vehicle cameras -- and states that identifiers and commercial information are disclosed to affiliates, dealers, General Motors/OnStar, and advertising/analytics companies in ways that 'may qualify as sales (or sharing for targeted advertising purposes)' under state privacy law. The HondaLink companion app's own Apple privacy label declares Contact Info, User Content and a User ID as 'Data Linked to You.' In March 2025 the California Privacy Protection Agency issued a decision against American Honda Motor Co., fining it $632,500 for CCPA violations including an asymmetric opt-out/opt-in cookie tool and excessive identity-verification demands on consumers exercising privacy rights. Ownership is traceable through Honda Motor Co., Ltd.'s own SEC 20-F filings (CIK 0000715153, Tokyo, Japan) as a foreign private issuer.
TRACK RECORD
1 ENFORCEMENT ACTION
[2025-03-12]
The California Privacy Protection Agency's own announcement states its Board issued a decision requiring American Honda Motor Co. to change its business practices and pay a $632,500 fine to resolve claims it violated the CCPA, including requiring excessive personal information to exercise privacy rights, an asymmetric (non-equal-effort) opt-in/opt-out cookie tool, and failure to produce required ad-tech contract terms.
American Honda's Privacy Notice lists the categories of personal information it collects, including identifiers, protected classifications, commercial/vehicle information (vehicle identification numbers, service history, connected-vehicle technology use), internet/network activity, and geolocation data collected from mobile devices, the web, and vehicles or products.
SEC EDGAR's own company filing record confirms the registrant as 'HONDA MOTOR CO LTD,' CIK 0000715153, headquartered at 2-3 Toranomon 2-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan, filing an annual 20-F ('Annual and transition report of foreign private issuers') every year from 2021 through 2026.
American Honda's own Privacy Notice states that it also applies to its parent company, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. of Japan, self-disclosing the corporate ownership link between the U.S. operating entity and its Tokyo-based parent.
Honda's Summary of Data Privacy Practices states that it discloses identifiers and commercial information to affiliates, Honda/Acura dealers, companies providing integrated services, General Motors and OnStar, and advertising/social-media/analytics companies, and explicitly acknowledges these disclosures 'may qualify as sales (or sharing for targeted advertising purposes)' under state privacy law.
The California Privacy Protection Agency's own announcement states its Board issued a decision requiring American Honda Motor Co. to change its business practices and pay a $632,500 fine to resolve claims it violated the CCPA, including requiring excessive personal information to exercise privacy rights, an asymmetric (non-equal-effort) opt-in/opt-out cookie tool, and failure to produce required ad-tech contract terms.
The same Privacy Notice discloses that Honda collects 'audio, electronic, visual, or similar information,' expressly including content captured by vehicle cameras in limited situations, alongside geolocation tracking from vehicles and devices.
HondaLink's own Apple App Store privacy-nutrition label self-declares Contact Info (physical address, email, name, phone number), User Content, and an Identifiers/User ID as 'Data Linked to You' -- data the developer says is collected and linked to the user's identity.