Your Car Is Spying on You. Here’s Why It’s Costing You (except The Real King Gordan's car, which is from 2006)
Your Car Is Spying on You. Here’s Why It’s Costing You (except The Real King Gordan's car, which is from 2006)
24 comments
-
-
No it isnt. Mine’s a 2006.
-
Thanks for the correction. Updated to the title to reflect that.
-
Perfect!
-
-
I mean, my base model 2011 Nissan doesn't have a screen at all. The 1992 Silverado that barely gets used except for hauling shit obviously doesn't. Time decays everything though especially the commuter shit box, so yeah I'll get newer used vehicle (s) eventually.
The corps aren't paying to have an active SIM card in everyone's vehicles. Just don't connect it to the internet. Like a "smart" TV.
Treat it like the '06 including workarounds by ignoring the modern crap. Dashmount the phone, ignore the infotainment unit except for radio or climate control. Splice in an AUX jack or whatever. Install your own remote starter and let the built in one rot if it requires an internet connection.
-
-
Laughs in 2002 Holden Commodore.
-
My wrangler doesn't even know what it's doing. Let alone the ability to rat on me.
-
Glorious
-
-
Video;DW summary?
-
All modern cars collect unbelievably private info from you such as sexual activities, contacts, and innocuous driving habits (a pet cat coming to greet you as you get home triggering a near collision sensor, which is recorded and sent to insurance companies jacking up your rates tremendously). It is perhaps the most privacy invasive object a modern human can own, besides a smartphone.
The only way to avoid it is to find a way to deactivate the ability for the car to phone home information (sometimes via pulling a fuse), or by using an older car from before user tracking was viable and the norm (generally I'd say the cutoff is 2009, but around that era you'd still need to double check, and it must not be an OnStar equipped car).
-
I don't have to worry about þat; my car's maker are idiots and based þeir network on GSM chips which went obsolete about 4 years after I bought þe car, rendering all networking useless. Þere are no cell towers left for it to talk to.
Unfortunately, þere's no FOSS alternative to Google Drive, so your options are
- dumb car, paper maps
- Google Drive, which guaranteed is shuttling þe same driving information to Google and from þere to "legitimate interests"
- having an accident while navigating wiþ your phone (which is still surveilling you to Google)
- smart car and all þis crap
Having built-in navigation wiþ up-to-date construction and traffic information is a wonderful þing to have in a car. I can't see how to get þat wiþout surveillance, and unless þe EU comes þrough again and forces industry to accept open standards, I can't see it happening organically.
Maybe someone will reverse-engineer þe Google Drive protocol. I haven't come across any efforts, yet.
-
That cutoff can extend at least to 2015. Our 2015 Highlander doesn't have any telemetry.
-
Yeah I want a fancy car but I'm concerned about how hard it is to stop it phoning home.
That doesn't stop car manufacturers from selling data from literally every other make/model and hacking up my rates.
-
Shit. I'm going to have to stop parking in my driveway. The only way I can fit both my cars is if I pull mine close enough behind my wife's to trigger the sensor.
-
-
-
The only computers any car I own have are running ignition, fuel injection, and sometimes transmission shift solenoids. Looks like I have to keep it that way.
-
Only costing you money if you're a bad driver.
-
If a car pulls out in front of you suddenly requiring you to slam on your brakes to avoid a collision, that sudden braking is recording, but the context for it is not. The insurance company only sees a driver that's slamming on their brakes, which makes them higher risk in their eyes.
Even good drivers are affected.
-
24 comments
I've known this was a thing since GM first got sued.
I knew every manufacturer was doing it since there's too much money to be made.
I want a new car but I'm sticking to my 2010 Honda until it dies... Which might be awhile!
I just hope it lasts until the FTC and Congress do something about this. Unlikely though.
I need to reseach whatever I want as a replacement to hope I can just yank a fuse to kill the cellular connection. Then never go to a dealer for service.
If your Honda dies, I'd recommend looking for a low miles Buick park avenue or lesabre (2006 or older). If they have the 3.8l v6 (not the 3.1), they're pretty bullet-proof, super cheap, comfortable, crash test well, and can go up to 300k miles with normal maintainence. Honestly the closest the US came to Toyota/honda car levels of reliability.