Modern cars are a privacy nightmare

[wanderingfool2]

9 hours ago, Kisai said:

Look, dude, I've literately worked for wireless companies. Nobody that is an end user has ever activated a "car". Onstar's service used AT&T in the 2G era and that was still managed as an entirely separate thing paid for by Onstar, not the customer.

 

Then don't make asinine comments that are patently false.  My response was to your whole silly statement that "car are not communicating with the internet".

 

Cars do have "cell radios" as your quote even points out.  So sorry if it hurts your feelings that you need to do a "look dude" but the bit I quoted you on is wrong; or your understanding is wildly off.

[circeseye]

i know toyota (i have a 21 venza) its always has a connection to the internet even thou i dont pay for its internet services. with no phone in the car its map app fully works. i can ping its location and tell it to lock unlock windows or start when no one is in it. so there is that
also as for tracking, yes toyota cars are tattle tales lol. my dealership knows how i drive because the car records whether i brake hard or soft, like to make fast sharp turns etc basicly a driver profile. and it contacts the dealer when its due for a oil change. (i know this because 25 miles after due they called to make an appointment because car let them know)
is all this bad? meh, depends on the person. me? dont care. google maps tracks i can look at google maps and bring up every time ive driving somewhere in the last couple years and see my exact route even see where i stopped along it.
so many things tracking you now a days its getting hard to stop it all
 

[Kisai]

2 hours ago, wanderingfool2 said:

Then don't make asinine comments that are patently false.  My response was to your whole silly statement that "car are not communicating with the internet".

 

Cars do have "cell radios" as your quote even points out.  So sorry if it hurts your feelings that you need to do a "look dude" but the bit I quoted you on is wrong; or your understanding is wildly off.

You seem to be under the impression that I was saying "no car has a cell radio" when it was "no customer is going to (pay to) connect their car to the internet themselves", people are not that competent, and these internet-enabled radios have never been a standard in vehicles. It's manufacturer radios that communicate with the manufacturer's private APN, and they are paying AT&T (in the US) or Rogers (in Canada) for it.

 

If you import a car from the US or Canada, or EU to US, those radios cease working unless you're paying the manufacturer monthly for a service like Onstar.

 

If you want to install your own radio, or plug your cell phone in, you are using your OWN device. Those insurance telemetry modules are things you plug in knowing the risks that you may wreck the ECU or other processor boards in the process. 

 

Cell radios in vehicles other than Tesla, have only ever been in vehicles with Onstar in the US. Onstar was always an optional feature, and if you cancel the Onstar service, they de-provision the cell modem. This is all done behind the scenes, and you the customer never know about it. Tesla's give you "Free Wifi" through their cellular modems, but you're actually paying for it because a service has to be active.

 

So you see what I'm saying here? If you aren't paying for a service that needs the internet, the car doesn't have it.

[Wh0_Am_1]

ANNNND this is one of the reasons why I will continue fixing up my old 90's car.... Don't want to deal with this garbage, sure I still a computer but it's rather rudimentary and disconnected in comparison to modern cars... That and I actually stand a chance of being able to fix the thing myself. (P.S. my car is also one of the cars that I will be easily be able to get find parts for decades from now, due to a lot of other people fixing up this car and the sheer cross compatibility that many from that era and even now have with that car.)