Couple of months prior, I read an article on Mozilla, where they did a research on automakers and found none comply to good privacy measures. I am planning to buy a used car. I want to know how the data is collected and transmitted.
The car comes with a connected app though I am not planning to use it. It also has apple car play and android auto. Should I use those? The article states some manufacturers even records sexual activities. How are they transmitting these informations? Through connected phones?
My use is fairly basic, I want to use the Bluetooth audio system in the car for listening to music on my phone. I use maps on my phone.
What about car servicing? Can they access stored information?
- SecurityPro ( @SecurityPro@lemmy.ml ) 33•3 months ago
We need an online guide, based on make and model, on how to disable the transmission of this data.
- delirious_owl ( @delirious_owl@discuss.online ) 6•3 months ago
I would be happy, to make it simpler, to have a set of instructions for how to disable transmission of all data. Basically I just want to know which cable to unplug or cut so the car cannot access the internet
- Steve ( @Steve@communick.news ) English28•3 months ago
The situation here is rather bleak really.
Generally these cars have their own always on cellular data connection paid by the manufacturer. So they don’t depend on. Your phone for anything.
What they do is record and transmit any sensor data they can. The sexual activity you mentioned, comes from the sensors in the seats that are required to activate seatbelt warnings, or disable the airbags if a child is in the seat. Data from those pressure sensors can be used to determine if there’s a certain kind of rhythmic motion happening in a given seat.
They also collect any and all data they can from devices they connect to. Like phones. So don’t use carplay, or android auto. Don’t use their app. When using Bluetooth audio don’t give permissions to make calls or access contacts.
It should be possible to physically disable the onboard cellular radio. That will prevent any live data tracking. Exactly how depends on the specific car you’re looking at.
I would assume the dealer can access and download the data manually. Use private non-dealer repair shops for any regular maintance or any repairs possible.
- xkbx ( @xkbx@startrek.website ) 31•3 months ago
So you’re saying if I fuck the same way Fremen walk the desert, they can’t track my car sex…
- Steve ( @Steve@communick.news ) English7•3 months ago
Precisely
- No_Eponym ( @No_Eponym@lemmy.ca ) 10•3 months ago
Muad’Dik!
- No1 ( @No1@aussie.zone ) 2•3 months ago
Wormsign!
- UnexploredEnigma ( @UnexploredEnigma@lemmy.ml ) 22•3 months ago
Drive older cars and learn how to fix them!
- delirious_owl ( @delirious_owl@discuss.online ) 11•3 months ago
I prefer not burning fossil fuels
- UnexploredEnigma ( @UnexploredEnigma@lemmy.ml ) 7•3 months ago
So electric derived from coal is much better?
- Fridgeratr ( @Fridgeratr@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 14•3 months ago
#1 yes
#2 it can come from other, cleaner sources
- UnexploredEnigma ( @UnexploredEnigma@lemmy.ml ) 2•3 months ago
Thanks!
- GissaMittJobb ( @GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml ) 11•3 months ago
What a terrible take.
First off, unironically yes on account of higher efficiency in electric engines over combustion engines.
Second, what grids still run on 100% coal? And why would they keep doing that long-term, given that coal is just shit on its own merits?
- UnexploredEnigma ( @UnexploredEnigma@lemmy.ml ) 2•3 months ago
Sorry, I am not current. Didn’t know that solar is a lot more efficient and cheap nowadays. https://www.popsci.com/story/environment/cheap-renewable-energy-vs-fossil-fuels/
- UnexploredEnigma ( @UnexploredEnigma@lemmy.ml ) 1•3 months ago
Where I live in Colorado, the grid is dominantly coal but they are slowly transitioning. Thank you for your insight.
- GissaMittJobb ( @GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml ) 4•3 months ago
32% coal vs 39% renewables, with natural gas making up the majority of the remainder - https://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=CO#tabs-4
- UnexploredEnigma ( @UnexploredEnigma@lemmy.ml ) 1•3 months ago
Looks pretty good, but the western slope is seriously lacking the infrastructure so far.
- Stitch0815 ( @Stitch0815@feddit.org ) Deutsch6•3 months ago
Oh come on don’t be annoying
- UnexploredEnigma ( @UnexploredEnigma@lemmy.ml ) 1•3 months ago
Oof guys. It was an honest question. Thank you all for the insight.
- delirious_owl ( @delirious_owl@discuss.online ) 6•3 months ago
No, electric derived from solar or wind or hydro is best. The easiest way for homeowners to charge their cars is solar.
- UnexploredEnigma ( @UnexploredEnigma@lemmy.ml ) 2•3 months ago
That’s dope. I didn’t know that was realistic.
- Catsrules ( @Catsrules@lemmy.ml ) 2•3 months ago
Older EV?
For example I think the old leafs use the 3G data connection. Now that the 3G system has been retired no more data collecting!!
At least that is what I understand.
- unwarlikeExtortion ( @unwarlikeExtortion@lemmy.ml ) 1•3 months ago
Most parts of Europe still have 2G service, so 3G isn’t fully dissapearing for at least the next 20 years there.
- f4f4f4f4f4f4f4f4 ( @f4f4f4f4f4f4f4f4@sopuli.xyz ) English4•3 months ago
USA still has 2G, but 3G is definitely no longer around. Those frequencies have been portioned out for 4G LTE and 5G.
- unwarlikeExtortion ( @unwarlikeExtortion@lemmy.ml ) 3•3 months ago
You’re right. I had a quick look on Wikipedia and it seems that 3G is getting shut down sooner due to frequency overlap with newer generations as you’ve said. 2G seems to not have so much overlap so it’s living longer.
I thought "if 2G is still around and is x years old and still isn’t fully disabled, then 3G which is y years old must have at least y-x years left. But alas, I was wrong, and thank you for correcting me.
- edric ( @scytale@lemm.ee ) 12•3 months ago
Not the exact (and only) solution, but some manufacturers may have a Do Not Sell My Information request form. Subaru has it on their website and I submitted a request for myself. Obviously we won’t know if they actually follow through, but it’s worth a shot. Some people have experimented with going in and actually disabling the antenna that the car uses for telemetry, but that’s at your own risk and likely voiding warranties in the process.
I think using carplay/android auto isn’t as bad since the infotainment system is just projecting your phone’s display, so your phone’s privacy policies apply. Whether you trust those policies is of course up to you. Cars that force their own systems (like GMC I think) are more risky because you are using it directly.
- delirious_owl ( @delirious_owl@discuss.online ) 4•3 months ago
Its better to disconnect the sensors than to trust policy
- umami_wasabi ( @umami_wasbi@lemmy.ml ) 9•3 months ago
Off topic. I saw a few comments about disabling or removing the modem on the car. How about removing where the telementry code resides in? Is that feasible?
- sunzu ( @sunzu@kbin.run ) 2•3 months ago
Wouldn’t removing the sim card be easier?
- Recant ( @Recant@beehaw.org ) 2•3 months ago
For my truck, I ended up looking in the owners manual and found a fuse that is for the modem. I removed it and the vehicle functions without issue.
I know it works because when I brought it to the dealership to get serviced they said they couldn’t connect to it via their online service app. They also asked if I had tried to connect to it via the company app on my phone. I just told them I never needed to.
Just to be sure I verified they didn’t reinstall the fuse and they had not.
- unknowing8343 ( @unknowing8343@discuss.tchncs.de ) 7•3 months ago
As long as you have a Google or Apple phone in your pocket… The car will actually not gather much more than your phone already does… So don’t overthink it.
- delirious_owl ( @delirious_owl@discuss.online ) 11•3 months ago
Most of us degoogle our Androids. No reason we can’t also de-spyware our cars
- invertedspear ( @invertedspear@lemm.ee ) 7•3 months ago
Number 1) find the fuse that controls the modem and pull it. Without this your car can only report when the service techs hook it up to their diagnostics, and what is reported there versus what reports on the regular from the modem is a huge difference. You lose a lot of convenience this way, but that’s to be expected. CarPlay and auto give you a lot of that convenience back, but now you’re giving a lot of that same data to Apple and Google, even if all you think you’re doing is projecting maps from your phone to your infotainment. Do you trust them? You can use Bluetooth audio in most cars without using CarPlay or auto, that should be safe. Stick to maps on your phone if you don’t want Google or Apple getting your driving data.
- GolfNovemberUniform ( @GolfNovemberUniform@lemmy.ml ) 6•3 months ago
I think the only good way to go is to break the transmitter inside the car and hope it doesn’t brick it.
- delirious_owl ( @delirious_owl@discuss.online ) 4•3 months ago
You can probably cut a cable going to the transmitter than break the transmitter itself. Low voltage cables can be reconnected trivially.
- Catsrules ( @Catsrules@lemmy.ml ) 2•3 months ago
Maybe but my guess is a lot of that stuff is Integrated onto a single board.
- GolfNovemberUniform ( @GolfNovemberUniform@lemmy.ml ) 1•3 months ago
Yea that’s the best way.
- Possibly linux ( @possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip ) English6•3 months ago
You really can’t
Also don’t start breaking your own car like some of these comments suggest. It can go wrong in many ways and may even harm the value of the car.
- delirious_owl ( @delirious_owl@discuss.online ) 5•3 months ago
Oh no! Not the value of the car! /s
- Possibly linux ( @possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip ) English1•3 months ago
Some people have disposable income
- arthur ( @arthur@lemmy.zip ) English3•3 months ago
This is what you are looking for: https://youtu.be/pA0zYTmi5ck
- delirious_owl ( @delirious_owl@discuss.online ) 17•3 months ago
I’m looking for an article or non-video documentation
- Mr. Camel999 ( @MrCamel999@programming.dev ) 2•3 months ago
If buying new, I believe you can ask to have the modem removed from the vehicle, which wouldn’t allow your car to access the internet. Haven’t had the opportunity to try this myself yet, but very much plan on it for whatever vehicle I purchase new in the future.
- TachyonTele ( @TachyonTele@lemm.ee ) 8•3 months ago
I find it very hard to believe anyone selling a new car would pull the modem out of one.
- EngineerGaming ( @EngineerGaming@feddit.nl ) 1•3 months ago
Maybe an independent mechanic can do so then?
- TachyonTele ( @TachyonTele@lemm.ee ) 1•3 months ago
Maybe. I’d read a few of the other comments here though that seem to know what’s involved first.