Mozilla released their studies, and I’m seeing a growing number of posts on the Internet about cars and the privacy nightmare they entail. I remember how this issue wasn’t talked about earlier because “just buy an older car” was still prevalent. I’m so happy that people are taking notice. Thank you to this community and Mozilla for the work they are putting in!
I’m basically in the position that I’m driving a car from 1999, and when it finally dies, I’ll either be resigned to riding the bus or finding another aged used car without all this absolute bullshit in it.
Maybe it really is time for the Free Open Source Vehicle.
You don’t need a very old car, just one that is old enough the cellular network doesn’t work any more.
Some vehicles were made for 3g, and can’t go to 4g for example.
2g antenna sare still up and running. Every new generation is add on top of the previous like a new layer of the network. And telemetry can be collected through older gen network.
Getting a base model can somewhat help too. My 2020 car only has carplay. No built in navigation or any remote or homing tech (that I know of). It’s the higher trims that get all the fancy tech “features”.
I mean sort of. What is “base” has also changed.
Try finding an EV that doesn’t have automatic windows but has old school manual rollup/rolldown windows. You can’t, even though its more environmentally friendly.
I’m sorry but roll windows are awful and I’ve personally seen people nearly get in accidents because they’re focused on rolling the window instead of the road.
I am willing to bet A LOT that the energy consumption of the small window servo is trivial on the ev’s battery and is a worthwhile expenditure so that the already incompetent drivers aren’t engaging in a physical task while driving down the highway.
With a button you just press it to close the windows for a short stint of faster driving where having the windows down is uncomfortable. With a flange you’d probably be more inclined to leave them open because of the effort required to close them while driving. I think having your windows open even for a few short drives leads to more energy usage by increased drag than the window servo uses in the whole cars’ lifetime. So I don’t think it is any more environmentally friendly.
I’m sure !fuck_cars@lemmy.ml would be happy to welcome you if you decided to go with buses.
That community completely ignores reality for millions billions of people that absolutely need a car to live a life in the thousands of cities that don’t have adequate public transportation and 100% of the rural areas in the world.
I miss my old 1999 Grand Marquis. Plenty of power, stupid easy to work on, rode like a dream, no tech bullshit. Fuel mileage was pretty crappy (owing to the V8 and curb weight) but it was a solid car. I largely drive cars until the die (did with that one too) and am thinking forward I may do the same and try to find older vehicles.
Man I would loooooove to find an old like 95 Regal. Totally a grandpa car, but all the freaking amenities, better cushioning than your couch, leg room, bench seat half the time, a V8 that can’t dump power and you can hold like 5 half racks under the hood if you needed too (tho pls don’t) there’s so much room.
Not a knuckle of blood anywhere to be found.
One thing I love about older cars from Detroit, definitely not the gas mileage but I can keep my spare fluids in the engine compartment lol
I’ll probably just fix up my GS500 and run that until petrol is outlawed. Possibly the last fully mechanical motor vehicle ever sold.
My city doesn’t even have bus fare. It’s not like they’re grabbing my biometrics when I step in. They’re not trying to identify me when I walk on.
You just walk on, wait, then walk off.
It may not be the most private way of transport but it’s not actively collecting data on you, which is what this is about.
EDIT: Further, it’s just easier for a car to collect data on it’s owner. When you buy a car, you get a Title which registers the Vehicle Identification Number to the owners name. Then, when you’re driving, because you’re in public you’re required to have your Drivers License, Registration, Insurance, a License Plate and up-to-date Tabs all very specific identifiers that identify both the driver and the car. The cars sensors only have to identify the owner, to whom it is already registered, and so they know the data they’re collecting is from one person/one family.
I’ve seen my cities bus budget. They have cameras on the bus for the protection of drivers but can barely afford them. They’re definitely not dumping money into shit like facial recognition. I don’t even need an ID to ride the bus. I can walk on with empty pockets and no one is gonna tell me I can’t ride the bus without ID. If you drive without your license, you can get it taken away.
May I ask which city (or at least country)? The no bus fares part is intriguing :)
The Mozilla report in case some readers missed it: https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/articles/its-official-cars-are-the-worst-product-category-we-have-ever-reviewed-for-privacy/
People are starting to comment on the topic and take notice? That is great to hear. It is not often that this happens when such a study is released. It might be that ordinary people who lack the knowledge on the subject may be able to comprehend the concerns regarding privacy in cars more readily than in other areas. Whatever the case is, I’m happy the discussion is finally happening.
Huge props to Mozilla on this one - their article is clear and thorough. A lot of the studies are very vague, limited in scope, or way too technical, which makes them hard to share and discuss broadly.
I think it also has a little bit of shock factor. Everyone expects Google to be spying on you, so nobody is surprised when a report is released about a Google Home speaker being bad for privacy. When you’re buying the speaker, you’re making an active choice to trade privacy for convenience.
But the average person probably doesn’t expect that from their vehicle. I think lots of people are shocked to find out how much info their car has been collecting about them. Especially since cars aren’t usually considered a luxury in the US. To make the same comparison, a smart speaker is a luxury. You can opt out of the data collection by refusing to purchase one. You can do without it. But in most of the US, a car is a necessity, and this means that you can’t opt out of the data collection because you need a car to survive.
Also, while Google collecting data on you means they use it for advertising, your vehicle collecting driving data on you absolutely can and will be eventually used for insurance coverage. Insurance companies are absolutely salivating at being able to prove people’s bad driving habits with data and use those as ways to increase the cost of their coverage.
Not loving the idea of being spied on by the insurance company dickbags just so they can look for any amount of “bad driving” as an excuse to pump up my rates.
I’m waiting for Elon to release a dumb tweet (xeet?) about how tesla has zero data collection
