Don't Let The Internet Fuel Your Paranoid Imagination

Dear Car Talk:

I just watched a movie called "Old Dads." In the movie, four guys get fired from their jobs because of a conversation they had while driving a rental car for work. The conversation was recorded by the rental company and turned over to their boss, who subsequently fired them for violating a clause in their contract.

In searching online, I found articles saying there's some truth to it. So, my questions are: Is this not an invasion of privacy? Is the rental agency obligated to inform the renter?

I'm sure you guys can think of other questions or information about "spy cameras" in rental vehicles.

Thanks. -- Bill

Bill, you know the stuff that they had to shovel off city streets back when people traveled by horses? Well, that's what this story is.

I remember when the internet first emerged, thinking that it could be a great educational tool for all mankind -- providing all the world's knowledge at everyone's fingertips. Instead, it provides all the world's knowledge, along with a forum for every knucklehead with a paranoid imagination to find like-minded knuckleheads and spread nonsense.

OK, let's go back to cars now and leave the philosophizing to Hints from Heloise. There's no truth to this, Bill. If a rental car company secretly recorded a customer, they'd be breaking all kinds of laws, state and federal.

There's no equipment in the car that comes from the manufacturer that would enable a rental car company to do this. And no respectable rental car company would ever install such equipment. There's simply no benefit to the rental car company. And the risks are enormous, from criminal liability to international embarrassment, to the loss of their customers. So, rest assured, Bill, whatever you were talking about in your last rental car, neither your boss, nor -- maybe more importantly -- your spouse, has a recording of it. As long as that snoopy Alexa wasn't listening.

When it’s time to say goodbye to your old car, here’s the perfect solution: Donate it to your favorite NPR station. They’ll even pick it up at your convenience. Here's how.