Serious question: Is anyone making a list of where it may be possible to purchase a *new* car that isn't just spyware on wheels?
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Serious question: Is anyone making a list of where it may be possible to purchase a *new* car that isn't just spyware on wheels? I've seen the Consumer Reports study but it all just looks like varying degrees of suckiness.
I'd also settle for one that doesn't make it hard to turn all the tracking off permanently. Or maybe someone's got a nifty piece of hardware that can be plugged in to nix all this nonsense?
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@briankrebs Mozilla did a set of 'Privacy Not Included' reviews for major car makers, and largely arrived at the same conclusion which is that they're all fucked.
My take is that the easiest thing to do may just be to disable the modem in any given car and then shop based on the vehicle features that don't use networking.
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@briankrebs Last I heard, Mozilla did this as well, and all of the options were terrible. Lack of regulation in this space has resulted in zero privacy-respecting options.
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@rexana Oh I might be misremembering. I think it was the Mozilla thing I read, not CR.
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David Penfold :verified:replied to BrianKrebs last edited by [email protected]
@briankrebs A GPS jammer?
Edit: and don't connect your phone, use a separate Garmin/TomTom satnav, destroy the SIM card etc etc.
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@briankrebs I have seen how to guides for removing a car's SIM
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@briankrebs or is someone publishing guides to cut the modems out of the cars? without power you
can’t connect to anything ya jerks lol -
@briankrebs https://privacy4cars.com/ might have one
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K. Reid Wightman :verified: 🌻replied to BrianKrebs last edited by
@briankrebs In my newer Ford the 'telemetry box' can be unplugged with no ill effect on anything (no more over the air updates for the infotainment system is the only 'downside', if you can call it that). The box is easy to access in the passenger footwell, no tools required to get at it, just crawl in and pull the plug.
It seems even more common to have always-connected-crap in electric vehicles, which, frankly, sucks.
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Probably the only way this gets better is when all these 5G internet connected cars start DDoSing the highway signs, or each other because they're all compromised by some 0day.
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Heck we've had firewalls in cars since the early days of the automobile. Maybe it's time we added another <ducks>. I mean, your car is constantly receiving updates. Why should this machine be any different?
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@briankrebs You can always unplug/cut the cellular and wifi antennas. Since the metal body of the car inhibits radio signals, the antennas tend to be externally mounted and (relatively) easy to access.
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@briankrebs I know it's fairly specific, but as an example of a lesser degree of suckiness, the DCM in the Toyota Tacomas up to 2023 can be disabled by simply removing the fuse. The only negative impact I know of is the loss of the microphone for Bluetooth calls.
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Yeah, I plan to hold onto my 2015 Honda Fit for the indefinite future. I see replies in this thread suggesting we disable the modem. I'll bet money that doing so will void multiple warranties so
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You could learn to ride a motorcycle? As far as I know, they haven't gone all in on collecting data yet.
Or maybe an ebike?
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@briankrebs Factory Five.
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@briankrebs You could weld a giant faraday cage around it, like those Russian turtle tanks
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@EverydayMoggie Motorcycles are more fun if you are surrounded by nice, smooth roads
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@briankrebs I've been having this concern for a while as my car is 17yrs old and will need replacing soon and I don't have confidence in all the new cars' "security".
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@briankrebs The answers to this question would make a great article, albeit not typical for what you write.
