Posted on 04/05/2025 7:54:24 AM PDT by george76
Tucker Carlson caused a stir in a recent interview that may cause some Americans to do a double take on the vehicles they are driving.
During an interview with automotive designer and internet personality Casey Putsch last week, Tucker mentioned that he is a lifelong fan of Chevrolet trucks but felt he had to “immediately” sell his latest one after spotting a disturbing message on the car’s dashboard.
“I bought a truck last year…A Chevy truck, which I’ve always had, and I was at a gas station, he said. “And all of a sudden at a gas station, it says, ‘Stop, we’re downloading information from the internet.'”
“While you were driving?” Putsch asked.
“No, I was stopped,” Tucker replied. “I sold the car immediately. I brought it back and sold it.”
“They want all your data to provide to insurance companies to wreck your life, I’m sure,” Putsch responded.
...
Tucker last year bought his 1987 Chevy Silverado and revealed the car’s lack of technology was a prime appealing factor to him:
“There are no electronics in this. There’s no air conditioning, there’s no radio, and there’s no way for the government to turn off my engine if I’m disobedient,” he said at the time.
“So that’s what I drive. I like it.”
“I will never drive a newer spy car... As far as I am concerned it is absolutely stupid to embrace this new Auto technology. I am a master tech and I have seen just driving by microwave towers shut cars off...”
ROTFLMAO!
That is unfortunately very true and for some reason we’ve reached a point in time where that is a condition that the powers that be cannot just leave alone. It’s why it’s inevitable that one day driving will be a thing of the past and we will all be forced to use Waymo.
GM admitted otherwise:
Here's How GM Was Able To Spy On The Driving Habits Of Millions Of Its Customers [Update]; Millions of GM drivers had their data taken from them and sold off without knowing.
by Andy Kalmowitz April 26, 2024
https://www.jalopnik.com/heres-how-gm-was-able-to-spy-on-the-driving-habits-of-m-1851438162/
"That wasn't us — and I had checked to be sure. In mid-January, again while reporting, I had connected our car to the MyChevrolet app to see if we were enrolled in Smart Driver. The app said we weren't, and thus we had no access to any information about how we drove. But in April, when we found out our driving had been tracked, my husband signed into a browser-based version of his account page, on GM.com, which said our car was enrolled in "OnStar Smart Driver+." G.M. says this discrepancy between the app and the website was the result of "a bug" that affected a "small population" of customers. That group got the worst possible version of Smart Driver: We couldn't get insights into our driving, but insurance companies could."
As time went by we transitioned completely to rewritable memory in all our modules. Instead of "get it right the first time" we switched to a mentality of "we can always fix it later" with a future download. Now I fear every update will introduce a new glitch or that hackers will figure out how to compromise the system.
And while Tucker's fears may be premature, I wonder how long it will be in Europe, for example, before someone mouthing off in their own car is reported to authorities by the vehicle for saying something anti-jihadist, for example. They arrest thousands of people each year now in England and Germany for speech violations. A Finnland legislator has been in legal trouble for years for quoting a Bible verse. France arrested Pavel Durov, the guy behind the Telegram app, because he wouldn't cooperate in their demands for censorship and surveillance of users. How long until they require carmakers to report politically incorrect speech to the authorities?
I call BS. How would it connect to the internet?
My dad just gave his 47 power wagon to his brother who restores vehicles- it was in pretty rough shape, bu5 engine was still strong- excited to see it restored some day. It is a beast of a truck! Back in the 60’s he used to plow the streets with it, then bought it when the town sold it- it had done a ton of work - hard work, like hau,ing large stones for wall building, removing car sized bou,ders from driveways with the winch, towing vehicles, etc. They use them at mud rallies to haul put the monster trucks that get stuck- great truck!
Let’s make public the driving data of GM executives.
“I call BS. How would it connect to the internet?”
Cellular connection.
Via WiFi at the gas station chain that gets paid by GM, the insurance companies, and the marketing companies to transmit data.
There is a lack of regulation and transparency respective to connected vehicles. I hate to point to Europe but they seem to be in a better place here. Between their requirements to have 3rd party, independent, *certification* of having a cybersecurity management system in place for system development (U.N. R155/156), and GDPR rules for data privacy, there’s better protection for consumers that care.
That said, it has nothing to do with the same authorities potentially requiring a software update that limits your speed or how often you can drive, or how far, etc.. - which I wouldn’t put past them.
There are ways to disable the connectivity...and I’d be more concerned with UPLOADS of data vs. downloads, which is most likely updated maps, new features, or cybersecurity fixes.
that cam looks like it was ground from rebar stock!
“Via WiFi at the gas station chain that gets paid by GM, the insurance companies, and the marketing companies to transmit data.”
Cellular connection. Not wifi.
Fact. In fact... 25 years ago I had three shops I owned running at one time. One I specialized in just building race engines. It was what I was born into and what I have done all my life. It is my real gig...
” I am a master tech and I have seen just driving by microwave towers shut cars off...”
I remember reading about that problem and the companies saying that it’s rare but they will fix it. Haven’t heard anything since.
If the download was transmitted via cellular signal, it could be downloaded at any time, and almost anywhere.
It was likely a wi-fi connection at the gas station, where if he pulled out of range, the download would be incomplete.
“unless YOU have a subscription to GPS updates or a cellular subscription...”
Replace “YOU” with “SOMEONE” and you’d be correct.
Ha, I read your post first as “Doge Power Wagon.”
I used the Bluetooth connection on my phone to play music on my car computer system controlled car speakers...next thing I knew all of the phone numbers I call from my phone were displayed on the computer screen in my car. I did not tell the cars computer to make a call. Once a connection is made one can never know what information is available to the cars computer or what any other outside system can access.
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