Cars that make use of wireless technologies have serious gaps in both security and customer privacy protection, according to a report set to be released today by a US senators office.

The report is based on detailed information from 16 different car manufacturers including Ford, BMW, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen. It concluded that the security measures in place to prevent hackers gaining control of a vehicles electronic systems or lifting customer information from inbuilt computer systems were “inconsistent and haphazard”.

The majority of manufacturers did not include systems to detect breaches or quickly respond to them within their vehicles, placing customers at considerable risk as cars become more and more likely to contain sensitive information.

According to the New York Times the report also expresses considerable concerns over how automakers are using wireless systems to track drivers behaviour, and how that information was being collected, transmitted and stored.

Consumers are often unaware that information is being collected, with few manufacturers making the collection or use of the data explicit. At least nine of the manufacturers contacted use third-party companies to collect the data, with some storing it in third-party data centres too.

“Drivers have come to rely on these new technologies, but unfortunately the automakers havent done their part to protect us from cyberattacks or privacy invasions,” said Sen. Edward J. Markey, whose office published the report. Sen. Markey has also been an outspoken advocate for net neutrality protections and consumer protection.