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

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

#451

Post by SideburnsOfDoom »

stork19 wrote: post #443
SoftTalker wrote: post #397

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Automatics are more fuel efficient, and govenment keeps raising the efficiency requirements. Automatics do this by having a lot of gears and changing up very aggressively. It would suck to drive a 7 or 9 speed manual (maybe truck drivers feel differently; I think 5 is optimal for a car) but automatics can manage it and squeeeze out another tenth of an MPG. I love manual transmissions and will never buy an automatic u…

Noooo. Manuals are on average much more efficient. I drive a 1st generation Honda Insight, and the manual version gets ~10 mpg more than the automatic.

> Manuals are

> I drive a 1st generation Honda Insight

1st gen Honda insight is "1999–2006" (1) so this anecdote is dated. Manuals were more efficient, but currently no, they are not so any more.

Apparently that only changed recently, shortly after this time period (2)

1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Insight

2)

https://www.energy.gov/eere/vehicles/articles/fotw-1127-marc...

https://www.greencarguide.co.uk/blog/automatic-vs-manual-car...

https://www.car.co.uk/media/blogs/fuel-alternative-fuels/do-...

https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/comments/9kye2h/comment/e72qx6...

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

#452

Post by brewdad »

ghaff wrote: post #246
gumballindie wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me controlling the radio using a touch screen is an issue - i cant take my eyes off the road, and using driving wheel buttons that require fiddling is not great either. I need buttons and dials that leverage muscle memory.

Volume should absolutely be a knob or, less ideally, a pair of buttons. But does anyone have a physical radio dial any longer? (Even my 1998 Toyota with no touchscreen I sold last year didn't.) I think at least one manufacturer was considering eliminating FM radio all together.

Every car I've driven that was made in the past decade has volume control as two buttons on the steering wheel. There may or may not be a knob but the knob is less convenient than using the buttons right next to your hands. My current cars will also let you cycle through the radio presets using the >> and << buttons.

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

#453

Post by sedro »

Scoring6931 wrote: post #428
EricE wrote: post #407

Just wait until insurance companies demand access to your cars telemetry for either a "discount" or even to insure you at all. I'm seriously thinking of stockpiling a few extra used "dumb" cars. This is beyond nuts.

Already a thing in the UK, where the cheapest insurance options require the installation of a telemetry black box in the car.

It's the same in parts of the US. In California, insurers are only allowed to collect the mileage.

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

#454

Post by pard68 »

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #317
pard68 wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's your choice. You can buy new, convienent, modern cars that spy on you and will be dead in ten years. Or you can buy old, reliable cars that lack most modern amenities but can be repaired forever with a metal lathe and a welder.

It's my choice not to learn how to use a metal lathe and a welder, or find someone with those skills to do it for me? How is that supposed to scale to millions of people who want the same privacy?

Never once suggested it would. All I said was that this is why I personally avoid new cars. I dislike things I cannot fix and I dislike things that actively harm me. If you or anyone else feels this way, the onus is upon you to solve it.

Most people want their data taken, or are ambivalent at best. Most people would hate driving old cars. They take work, most people want less work, not more.

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

#455

Post by sergiosgc »

cduzz wrote: post #432
sergiosgc wrote: post #391

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Genuine question: What exactly do you enjoy? Twenty years go, you could do a mountain road engine braking with downshifts, getting then the perfect gear for the turn apex and coming out perfectly balanced. But cars have changed. Engine braking is a lot less effective today (different compression ratios, better mechanics). Automatics now have more gears and allow you to manually select the gear, so you can control ava…

I dislike indeterminate lag between input and action. With an automatic, there's a threshold where the car decides to downshift when asking for a particular increase in forward velocity; that set point will wander depending on current RPM state and velocity and drive gear ratio. Modern cars are bad enough with turbos and fancy valve timing and throttle by wire stuff where the behavior of the thing is a big stack of j…

That is true, but only in automatic mode. In semi-automatic, everything is quite predictable, no?

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

#456

Post by ghaff »

dylan604 wrote: post #447
ghaff wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually I guess it's both. https://musictech.com/news/industry/ford-tesla-bmw-am-fm-rad... AM radio is sometimes used for information updates on roads etc. but I'm sure very few people use it.

interesting. maybe i blocked the FM part out, but i was distinctly remember AM. removing radio entirely makes sense, as i didn't really think that an FM only radio would be any cheaper than AM/FM would be. >but I'm sure very few people use it. The conservative side of the spectrum loves the AM band

I guess Ford at least is going to keep AM radio after all https://www.npr.org/2023/05/24/1177847361/ford-changes-direc... with the justification being it's an emergency alert system. I assume AM and FM antenna requirements are different and that's probably where the cost is.

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

#457

Post by ReactiveJelly »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #435
EricE wrote: post #387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

just wait until insurance companies demand access to your telemetry or they triple your rates.

Why would they triple your rates? Insurance regulators do not let insurers increase premiums unless they have evidence showing the new data indicates a higher risk factor. So if you are getting your rates tripled, then you were being subsidized by safer drivers before, which seems like something that should be fixed. Dash cams have already probably given insurers a better idea on who is a riskier driver and who is no…

They'll probably increase my rates because if I refuse the telemetry, they have to assume I'm a terrible driver.

The fact that I am the most tight-assed speed-limit-obeyer I've ever known, with a dashcam, means nothing to them since it's my hardware and not theirs.

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

#458

Post by redwasp »

mytydev wrote: post #416
hoot wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not an Elon hater but Tesla is the worst offender on Mozillas privacy study.

The report specifically says Tesla is not the worst btw

Surprising, since Mozilla's article(https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/article...) does place them dead last, right behind Nissan. Granted, it'll be hard not to buy a car on that list!

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

#459

Post by salawat »

https://cccis.com

In case you were curious about one of the faces behind the tech stacks that specialize in data exfiltration w.r.t your care. They pitch as being the source of info for the actuaries of auto insurers. Interviewed for them once, and even though the offer didn't materialize, I crossed them off my list of people I'd work with after putting in some time reading up on their offerings and thinking on what you could make out of them.

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

#460

Post by Engineering-MD »

scott_w wrote: post #420
tiffanyh wrote: post #354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

In the UK it’s illegal to touch your phone while driving (with some exceptions around hands free kits and payments). Even for things that are legal, the Highway Code is clear that you do not touch your radio while driving. I’d presume it would take a dim view of playing with other non-critical functions. So no, just because it’s on your wheel, that doesn’t make it “safe.”

It’s illegal to hold not touch. It is specifically legal to use your phone (in a safe manner) in say a wind screen mount [0].

[0] https://www.gov.uk/using-mobile-phones-when-driving-the-law

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