That’s going to be interesting.
Here in Germany, we are forced to use Windows in schools because “it’s what the kids need in the real world”.
By forcing Windows to work cloud-only, they are literally making it illegal to use in schools here, because we can’t force children to use anything doing data-harvesting in order to pursue their education.
Fun times ahead!
At this rate if Germany becomes a leader in exporting non data harvesting devices/vehicles I can assure you I’ll be buying all my electronics from Germany soon enough.
At the very least, their vehicles (mine at least) require you to opt-in if you want data harvesting.
For Mercedes’ app, the privacy policy outlines everything that needs to be shared with them for its functionality and then anonymized telemetry is opt-in, rather than opt-out. I didn’t opt in because even if it’s anonymized, I don’t need anybody knowing certain things, like how fast I drive. Also it explicitly stated that if you opt into the telemetry, you “have to inform anyone who borrows your vehicle that anonymized data is being collected”. I appreciate that, it’s a lot more transparent than most companies are.
