Live data from Hacker News

Internet-connected cars fail privacy and security tests conducted by Mozilla

gizmodo.com

351–360 of 660 posts

Re: Internet-connected cars fail privacy and security tests conducted by Mozilla

#351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We just bought a 2023 Mazda CX-5 Select for $29k. No touchscreens in the whole car! And no dealer markup - we paid slightly under MSRP. But... it is certainly satellite connected (you can manage locks, windows, etc. from your phone, as well as remote start). Wish it was included in this privacy investigation. I'd love to know more about what they do with what they know about our car and how we use it.

I wonder how the car would respond to having the sat antenna run through with a 1/2 inch drill bit? Would that solve the problem?

Just unplug the cellular modem. I have three "dumb" cars and I'm going to continue to baby the crap out of them. I have zero interest in anything new. Maybe a Mazda if push came to shove.

Re: Internet-connected cars fail privacy and security tests conducted by Mozilla

#352

This is very much in line with the industry trying desperately to get into the tech recurring revenue model. > the manufacturer collects information including sexual activity, health diagnosis data, and genetic data, though there’s no details about how exactly that data is gathered How is that even possible? Without more details about what this means and how it's done, this sounds a bit fishy to me. > Mozilla said it…

> How is that even possible?

Yesterday, you visited a dating site a bunch. Today, you drove to a house that wasn’t yours and the passenger side door opened. Then you drove to a restaurant and the passenger side door opened again. Then you drove back to the house you don’t live at and the car was there overnight.

Re: Internet-connected cars fail privacy and security tests conducted by Mozilla

#353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately lots of people are happy to pay the markups. Some subreddits, including /r/rav4prime , will ban you for speaking negatively about dealer markups or those who pay them. Here's their hilariously condescendingly worded rule 4: > No demonstrations of economic illiteracy. No negativity regarding markups. You are encouraged to post about current prices and markups and your dealership experiences, but please D…

I’m pretty sure most of the car subreddits are managed by dealership employees who benefit from markups via increased commissions. The fact that they make reference to complaining about price markups as economic illiteracy increases my confidence in this hypothesis. I’m tempted to go make a post about rent seeking, deadweight loss and price collusion in oligopolistic conditions but somehow I feel my economic literacy…

/r/whatCarShouldIBuy is a pretty decent sub. Comparing answers there to /r/askCarSales is pretty funny, such different advice.

Re: Internet-connected cars fail privacy and security tests conducted by Mozilla

#354

Of all the horrible things go on with privacy these days, this is the one I hate the most. I’m a “car guy”, but not the sort that obsesses over old cars (although I do love 60s and 80s cars). I like new tech, I like the advances in engineering we’ve made in new vehicles, I like EVs even. Nonetheless I’ve been in the market for a new car for months and haven’t bought because it’s hard to find any cars that meet my req…

The touchscreens are really a dealbreaker on new cars. They’re not just prone to quick obsolescence, they’re dangerous.

Do you ever use your mobile phone while driving?

Call, talk, text, maps, etc.

How is it any more dangerous than how a typical person uses their phone today while driving?

For safety: all common systems are accessible on most steering wheels (e.g. radio, etc) so that your hands never have to leave the steering wheel.

Re: Internet-connected cars fail privacy and security tests conducted by Mozilla

#355
post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kill switches are now required for cars produced after 2026. https://www.musclecarsandtrucks.com/biden-infrastructure-bil... It is for your safety. ;)

https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-402773429497

Pretty much the definition of corrupt/biased "fact checkers" right here. It's a mechanism where the car can decide to turn itself off and prevent you from driving. It's literally a kill switch, where the car refuses your commands. They're arguing semantics about how it currently isn't a remote kill switch, only a local kill switch. Reminds me of other similarly ridiculous "fact checks" where someone claims something like "X is raising taxes by 9%!" and they fact check it as "completely false" because technically it's not 9%, it's 9.1%, or whatever.

Of course in the future the kill switch will also be mandated to be remotely triggerable, we all know it, but by that time the overton window will have shifted far enough, by things like mandating local kill switches, that making it remote as well will slip through easily in however many years.

I will never in my life own a vehicle that can decide, locally or remotely, to refuse to function, or that can decide to slam on the brakes by itself, or that can phone home data about me. Not sure how much longer I can get away with that before older, non-smart cars are declared evil and banned, in the name of climate change or walkable cities or whatever, but we'll see.

Re: Internet-connected cars fail privacy and security tests conducted by Mozilla

#356

Oven been thinking of getting a pickup truck from the 90s and just keep replacing the engine and transmission if needed. I’m just wondering about the safety.

Most American cars up through the mid 1980's were unsafe and crap. By the mid 1990's they were much safer, especially if they have air bags.

Re: Internet-connected cars fail privacy and security tests conducted by Mozilla

#357

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate them so much. Otherwise great cars are completely ruined by touchscreens. What was wrong with tactile knobs you could operate one handed without looking? You’re driving for fuck’s sake. It’s why things like the GR Corolla are nearly miraculous in 2023, it even comes stick shift only.

As an European, where we drive mostly stick, it's funny to observe the newfound US love for stick shifts. It's funny because it happened almost exactly when automatics became good! Good dual clutch gearboxes are amazing, but even "classic" ones like BMW's ZF6 or ZF8 are really close. ZF8 is so good BMW uses it in the M3, instead of a dual clutch. With these options, I'd never go back to stick shift. This after having…

drivers that enjoy manuals have always been around. We’re just louder now because they almost don't make cars with manuals anymore, so when one does come along we rejoice.

Re: Internet-connected cars fail privacy and security tests conducted by Mozilla

#358

Of all the horrible things go on with privacy these days, this is the one I hate the most. I’m a “car guy”, but not the sort that obsesses over old cars (although I do love 60s and 80s cars). I like new tech, I like the advances in engineering we’ve made in new vehicles, I like EVs even. Nonetheless I’ve been in the market for a new car for months and haven’t bought because it’s hard to find any cars that meet my req…

The touchscreens are really a dealbreaker on new cars. They’re not just prone to quick obsolescence, they’re dangerous.

I recently rented a cheap sedan and was shocked: there was a small screen for carplay that didn't interfere with the dashboard and all the other controls (volume, climate, etc) had hard buttons. After a couple of days of driving I could do everything without looking away from the road.

Meanwhile the expensive cars are frightening to drive as you need to look away from the road to do anything.

Re: Internet-connected cars fail privacy and security tests conducted by Mozilla

#360
post #297

> Some of the cars tested collected data you wouldn’t expect your car to know about, including details about sexual activity, race, and immigration status, according to Mozilla. It's not just that I would not expect my car to know about these things, it's that I cannot imagine how my car could possibly know these things. Immigration status? Sexual activity? WTF? How?

cameras, mics? and/or uploading pics from your phone

Who uploads pics from their phone to their car??? Is that even possible?
Post reply on HN