Stop Your Car From Spying on You

Reason ^ | March 25, 2024 | J.D. Tuccille

[z3n]

“Once you enter your car’s VIN, the site provides a rough idea of what sorts of data your car collects.”

~~~~

Hahaha! Dripping with irony.
Give a website your VIN to find out what kind of information can be collected. wow!

They shouldn’t need the VIN number. Year, make and model would do it.

Amazing

[RoosterRedux]

I kept getting the feeling my truck was spying on me. You know how you can feel it when there are eyes looking at you but you can't see them because there's no one around.

The only problem is that my truck is old, has roll-up windows, and a standard transmission...so it can't be Mark Zuckerberg.

Well, I finally figured it out. There were tiny little mice droppings on the dashboard.

So mystery solved. Someone was watching me. Lucky for him I like to eat and drive.;-)

[z3n]

[BenLurkin]

Why not just pull the fuse on its wireless transmitter?

[Bob434]

Pretty soon though the “powers that be” Wil. Create software that re-engages when it gets tu4ned off by the owner- just like Microsoft has done- and make certain settings unable to be turned off.

[READINABLUESTATE]

Your smart phone does the same thing.

[EnderWiggin1970]

I’m glad I’ve never figured out how to sync my phone and car. Sheesh... makes me wonder if my MY2016 is old enough to retain much privacy (and if so, how long I can reasonably keep it running).

[6ppc]

Bkmk

[DevonD]

Article is good. Website is junk. Put in my 1998 vehicle which has no way to communicate, no infotainment and the radio was replaced. It tells you what the manufacturer policies are for data it collects but also call this car a hard disk on wheels. With development cycles, a 1998 probably uses tech from 1993 or before (in my case much before as close to complete design change). It cannot store much more than average gas mileage.

No problem giving the info to insurance companies as long as the user knows. But government maybe a big issue. If it is global trend data, no happy but probably can not stop it. But user identifiable data should not be allowed without a warrant.

[Sirius Lee]

Seeling Cat seize all.

[mewzilla]

But I can put my smartphone in a Faraday bag...

[VanShuyten]

My 14 year old car is looking better and better.

[ridesthemiles]

LOVE MY OLD IRON MORE EACH DAY.

1976 Chevy truck

1979 Buick wagon

NO CELL PHONE-—EVER

[Gene Eric]

You could always pick up a few rolls of aluminum foil

[Scrambler Bob]

Year, make and model would do it.
= = =

The VIN indicates the options, which can be quite varied in the same make and model.

[ridesthemiles]

I CAN CALCULATE MY OWN GAS MILEAGE

[grobdriver]

For review.

[Albion Wilde]

I’m glad I’ve never figured out how to sync my phone and car.

One of my grown children did that for me, before I was aware of this type of spying. But when I had my car battery replaced, the Bluetooth connection disappeared.

[Albion Wilde]

"Year, make and model would do it."
The VIN indicates the options, which can be quite varied in the same make and model.

Thank you for clarifying that.