Modern cars’ smart features could be used to spy on you, drivers warned

14 days ago by Orwi to c/privacy

Hostile states could access cameras, microphones or GPS, says intelligence agency amid concerns over Chinese imports
whyNotSquirrel 90 points 14 days ago

could? that's some optimistic point of view

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atomicbocks 21 points 13 days ago

GM has been banned from selling user data to insurance companies in the US and Tesla has been in the news multiple times for sharing video from inside people’s cars.

This should be a forgone conclusion especially with Europe mandating cameras in cars now.

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ExcessShiv 2 points 13 days ago

I hate that camera surveillance in cars is happening like that. Unfortunately people have also been proven to be absolute morons when driving and doing all sorts of other shit than actually keeping their eyes on the road, and inattentive driving is the leading cause of accidents. So this is sort of something people brought on themselves by being idiot drivers.

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atomicbocks 14 points 13 days ago

Yes, but I feel like putting cameras in cars isn’t the answer. People are already finding ways to trick the computer into thinking they are paying attention:

We need far stricter enforcement, too many people treat driving like a right instead of a privilege. Even drunk driving isn’t treated as a license removing offense in a lot of places.

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ExcessShiv 4 points 13 days ago

But what is the answer? Higher fines isn't doing much to change this behavior, even withdrawing licenses and impounding cars have very limited effect. Do we throw people in prison for being inattentive in a car?

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sepiroth154 35 points 14 days ago

When something could be used to spy on you, replace c with w.

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geneva_convenience 24 points 14 days ago

Replace the whole thing with "are"

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Valthorn 11 points 14 days ago

Even replace it with "are designed to"

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defaultusername 4 points 13 days ago

Wamera has a nice ring to it.

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moldy_rice 2 points 13 days ago

Wan

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feral_sh 20 points 14 days ago

Are being used to spy on you

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Schlemmy 16 points 13 days ago

Could? . . . Could?

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777Prawn 15 points 13 days ago

No shit...

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captain_aggravated 14 points 13 days ago

Dutch spy chief warns guns can be used to shoot bullets.

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SpeakSizzling 1 point 13 days ago

Poor bullets. They didn't choose that life.

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aizakku 14 points 14 days ago

“On the one hand this offers practical benefits, but on the other hand these systems collect a great deal of data about occupants, the vehicle itself, and about objects and people in the vicinity. Various parties, including state actors, can gain access to this data,” it added.

Practical benefit? Idk, I like driving so the nanny systems are bogus. I’ll keep my ‘08 G37S till it doesn’t make sense and then move to maybe 2010 GTI because it’s honestly a more fun car. The touchscreen sucks in the 2010, but still very few nanny systems in this vintage of car.

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eldavi 11 points 13 days ago

i've discovered by accident that if you're lucky enough to have the right kind of engine and mechanics, then an older car makes more financial sense as well.

the average monthly payment for a car is around $800, and if you have the right kind of engine -- one where transmissions and head units are the most costly repairs, like nearly all did before the early 2010's -- then the worst case scenario is $3000, which is less than 4 months of payments.

but the caveat is that you have to know the right mechanics, since specialty shops like aamco dramatically inflate their prices. they wanted $7500 to replace the transmission on my 2008 and i found mechanics willing to do it for $1800 back in 2023.

and there are plenty of these mechanics around -- i've used four of them on 3 different cars since 2003. the trick is knowing who they are, since they're usually operating out of small mom & pop shops that keep bankers hours, so they're MUCH more inconvenient and harder to find than something like aamco.

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aizakku 3 points 13 days ago

Yea my guy is good, I take it there when I need work done on a lift. There was power issues a few weeks back so me and a buddy replaced the spark plugs(230km and prob factory plugs 😬) but no dice. So I took it to my mechanic to diagnose properly since there were no codes. Turned out it needed both catalytic converters as they were pretty clogged. He got me sorted quickly, but we got the parts from US and with the nonsense down there it was stuck at customs for like 4 days.

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eldavi 2 points 13 days ago

... we got the parts from US and with the nonsense down there it was stuck at customs for like 4 days.

one of the few good reasons to buy an american car if you're in the united states. lol

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HomeOnEarth 13 points 13 days ago

Could be? More like actively are!!

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EatMyPixelDust 10 points 12 days ago

Could be? They definitely are.

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SCmSTR 5 points 12 days ago

This is well documented, that your car is one of the biggest sources of data to data farmers. Before we knew how bad LG and basically everything else is.

We used to have a word for it:

Spyware

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Olhonestjim 5 points 12 days ago

That is their sole purpose, yes.

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irotsoma 4 points 12 days ago

The problem has very little to do with Chinese Imports. The car companies all over the world are already collecting a ton of data. For example, there have already been many reports of how auto insurance companies in the US buy that data from multiple companies and use it to raise premiums for people who drive recklessly, among many other uses. Also, just having an always on transmitter in a car now makes it easy for companies like Flock to track your vehicle and that is explicitly for law enforcement, and their systems have already been proven to be easily hackable. If you think governments and malicious actors don't also buy and/or steal that information, you aren't paying attention.

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boobookittyfrick 1 point 9 days ago

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ijhoo 1 point 13 days ago

somebody should tell him that this could be done with phones as well

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moldy_rice 1 point 13 days ago

We can fix that in phones with a simple reinstall, omitting gapps.

I don't know of any guide to disable the sensors on any EV

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ExcessShiv 1 point 13 days ago

They're the same as on an ICE, There's little to no difference between ICE and EV on the low-voltage 12VDC systems.

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moldy_rice 3 points 13 days ago

Sure, but old ICE without this surveillance trash exists.

I mention EVs because there are no EVs without this surveillance trash, afaik

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ExcessShiv 2 points 13 days ago

You are pretty much relegated to cars that are +25 years old to get them without any monitoring at all, and depending on where you live in the world, these are almost exclusively rusty pieces of shit (thanks road salt). And buying that old cars comes with all the maintenance and reliability issues (especially during winter time). If you go newer than that you can get an original Nissan Leaf or something, that's probably the best option (and it's really kinda shitty)

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gatitaQwQ 1 point 12 days ago

That was already pretty obvious. You’d have to be stupid to think technology doesn’t spy on people. Even the fact that our phones are always watching us makes us think about these new things with AI. That’s the world we live in: a mess. They’re always watching us. All of this makes the world hypocritical and capitalist. :/

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unwarlikeExtortion 1 point 12 days ago

In other news:

Water tebds to be wet. Dehydrating it is hard as well.

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