When you provide the car data services platform of choice to over ten auto manufacturers (or Original Equipment Manufacturers, OEMs) scalability and privacy isn’t an option — it’s a given.

Founded in 2015, Otonomo is an automotive data services platform for connected cars that helps put car data to good use. The company enables service providers to develop innovative, digital services for connected car drivers. Working with auto manufacturers, Otonomo ingests, secures, cleanses, normalizes, and enhances car data, maintaining the anonymity that consumers expect while providing third-party developers with the data needed to better serve innovation.

“We don’t build the services ourselves,” explains Tomer Raanan, Otonomo VP of engineering. “We enable them and empower them by making car data and connectivity available in a seamless and secure way for them to create these new experiences for consumers.”

Increasing Scalability Without Sacrificing Privacy

For third-party developers, car data is crucial — but so too is anonymity. Failure to maintain a certain level of data privacy risks not only damaging consumer confidence, but can have legal ramifications as well. Violating regulations like GDPR or CCPA can have severe consequences, and authentication capabilities play a major role in properly securing data.

“It always starts with authentication,” says Itay Flikier, Otonomo engineering team leader. “The first thing we need to make sure when we let a person share their data is to make sure that we are able to authenticate a driver with his or her own car.”

Otonomo initially built an in-house identity solution, but as the company started to grow very quickly, adding new partners, they decided to outsource identity and focus engineering efforts on their core platform capabilities in house.  

“Our in-house solution was good for the beginning when we just started,” said Flikier. “But as business took off we decided that partnering was a better strategy as we needed to focus on the core data platform functionality. We added so many new partners that required integrating with multiple authentication providers and addressing a critical mass of requests.”

Having invested in both companies, Bessemer Venture Partners suggested that Otonomo try Auth0.

“Because we’re dealing with drivers’ personal information, which is very, very, very sensitive, we have to ensure that we have all the right methods in place,” adds Raanan. “In terms of authentication, we found [Auth0’s] solution meets the highest standards. This gave us confidence that we found the right partner.”

Otonomo Saves 10% on Development Time While Future-Proofing

Auth0 has simplified the process of adding new OEM partners says Raanan, greatly reducing development time while allowing Otonomo to effortlessly scale without the need to hire new employees.

“Today, we need to integrate new OEMs often and quickly. With Auth0, we can configure and test authentication in a matter of days. I would estimate that [Auth0] reduced our development time by at least 10%,” Flikier says.

Otonomo’s savings also extend to the bottom line. “Developing identity management in-house would require doing a lot of research and adding at least two extra headcounts,” explains Flikier. “I also factor in implementation and scaling costs, so at a minimum Auth0 saved us $200,000.”

As Otonomo prepares for future growth, the company has expanded its partnership with Auth0, confident that the secure and scalable services that Auth0 provides will serve them well.  

“We are a privacy-first company. Knowing that Auth0 is GDPR compliant was a big factor in our decision to expand our partnership,” says Flikier. “It goes without saying, we feel very secure.”