Just came across a post on Reddit asking about cars, thought I’d ask here too.

The article the reddit post cited was: https://www.thankyourobot.com/2023/07/on-road-to-privacy-invasion-unmasking.html

In short, if I’m in the market to purchase a new car, which one should I go for to improve privacy? And if we assume that such a thing is not possible anymore, what can we do for our (newer) cars to be more private? I was considering things like removing the radio antenna (if I can, that depends on the model of the car).

I’m also interested in knowing just how would car companies mine information from a car if I haven’t connected my mobile to it? Do cars have SIMs inside them that have free 4G/5G access and can send information that way? How would I check if my car is doing something like this?

Thanks!

  • ono
    2•1 year ago

    Do cars have SIMs inside them that have free 4G/5G access and can send information that way?

    Yes, sadly, this has been commonplace for decades.

    When (if) I eventually buy another car, I expect there will be few options without preinstalled spyware. If I can’t find one that I like, I plan to look for models that enthusiasts have already hacked to disable all that stuff, and use their experience as a guide.

    I hope someone will post some examples here. Good luck!