Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Can I disable all data collection from my vehicle?

rivian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

331–340 of 367 posts

Re: Can I disable all data collection from my vehicle?

#331

Post by m463 »

ragall wrote: post #324
aembleton wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you disable telemetry in a new car. I have a 2022 Kona. It's the first car I've had with telemetry. No idea how to disable it.

Find the cellular and/or wifi antennae and cut them.

this does not work.

I have a tesla wall charger. I never wanted to connect it to wifi, but it creates its own unique wifi access point TelsaWallConnector-blah-blah.

so I thought - I'll just disconnect the antenna!

nope, still shows up.

so... I'll just wire the antenna it to a dummy load!

nope, still shows up.

It appears the wifi chipset has an on-board antenna and an external antenna connector and it uses them both.

I suspect this stuff happens for wifi and cellular chips in lots of devices.

Re: Can I disable all data collection from my vehicle?

#332

Post by bobsmooth »

fainpul wrote: post #258

The user wants to "disable data collection ". The manufacturer offers only a kill switch for all connectivity , with all the unwanted effects (which they helpfully list). I've seen this pattern before. It's a lame cop-out. "Of course you can do that, but you'll have to accept all these negative consequences. There's nothing we can do about it. You brought this onto yourself."

The Onion covered this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMChO0qNbkY

Re: Can I disable all data collection from my vehicle?

#333

Post by xp84 »

willis936 wrote: post #277
xp84 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe in theory, but I trust Apple to detect a crash correctly about as far as I can throw my iPhone without breaking its glass back or front. This is the company whose flagship voice assistant, in 2026, can’t tell the intended recipient in a sentence like “Text Bob Mary signed the deal.” And if my phone happens to be thrown into the back of the car by the crash, I doubt anyone will be able to hear me. Not to mention…

Why do you trust the car companies more? The premise of this discussion is that they cannot be trusted to act in the user's interest.

Why? Well, The OnStar product has about a 30-year history of doing its main jobs flawlessly. Also, it's a paid product and their flagship product. We exchange our dollars for the product they provide. Simple. Unlike Apple where these are ancillary offerings way outside their core competency.

And I'm OnStar have great margins, because it's basically an insurance product that most customers rarely if ever use. But it's an interesting insurance product because unlike say, car insurance, instead of a claim costing them $10,000-1,000,000 a "claim" costs them maybe 30 minutes of a call center agent's time. Great business to be in.

But all that works in my favor. It's a good deal for me because it might save the life of me or someone I love and I can easily afford it. And they have every incentive to preserve their reputation, such as by not replacing the operator with a chatbot who wants to offer me directions to the nearest Chevron™ when I've rolled off the road into a canyon.

Re: Can I disable all data collection from my vehicle?

#335

Post by dmitrygr »

cj wrote: post #12
jamilbk wrote: post #2

I remember yanking out the onstar unit in my 2015 silverado to physically disconnect the cell antenna. This was (is?) the only practical way to disable cellular in that vehicle. Kudos to Rivian for making this a supported user privacy feature.

As someone who got into a rollover accident which ended with my car upside down on a freeway, hearing only the onstar person talking to me while half conscious, this is sad. I do distinctely remember strongly disliking the user agreement I signed for the "internet connected" features of the car when I bought it. 100% rubbed me the wrong way and I couldn't' find a way to opt out, and I wasn't so motivated to physicall…

> As someone who got into a rollover accident which ended with my car upside down on a freeway, hearing only the onstar person talking to me while half conscious, this is sad.

Get an iPhone or an apple watch - they offer this same service with a more sane privacy policy.

Re: Can I disable all data collection from my vehicle?

#337

Post by p_ing »

m463 wrote: post #331
ragall wrote: post #324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Find the cellular and/or wifi antennae and cut them.

this does not work. I have a tesla wall charger. I never wanted to connect it to wifi, but it creates its own unique wifi access point TelsaWallConnector-blah-blah. so I thought - I'll just disconnect the antenna! nope, still shows up. so... I'll just wire the antenna it to a dummy load! nope, still shows up. It appears the wifi chipset has an on-board antenna and an external antenna connector and it uses them both.…

It works depending on the manufacturer. Honda places the TPU in the dash behind the head unit. Use some spudgers and you can disconnect and remove the TPU. Takes 15 minutes at most.

Re: Can I disable all data collection from my vehicle?

#338

Post by conductr »

baggachipz wrote: post #294
conductr wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m weighing whether I should get a Slate or R2 next. Yet, somehow, I feel like these don’t compete directly much. Perhaps I’m wrong. My friends with R1s would never consider a Slate. Maybe the R2 is more of a match even at twice the price.

I think that: 1) Slate will still not be available for a while, and 2) Once you get everything you want on it, the price won't be that much better. But that's just my take. Don't get me wrong, I look forward to Slate being available and think it's compelling, but just my cynical take.

I love the cynicism! My thought is that’s why it doesn’t compete for many people. Either you like Slate for what it is (simplistic, low features, or just really want that customization yourself) or you think it’s too simplistic, want a lot of features, or like the luxury finishes - so you just buy a Rivian without considering the Slate.

I’ve been wanting something like the Slate for a long time and am truly excited by it. The more they’ve commented on specifics however, the more I feel like it’s a risky buy though (for me and my needs). If they do the test drive tour I’m going to make sure to visit it, the whole preorder a car from a company that doesn’t exist thing stokes my anxiety a bit too. Rivian at least I’m familiar with but I’m definitely in the “this company is going bankrupt camp” and don’t see their path towards profitability. So hard for me to buy their product even if they are built for camping

Re: Can I disable all data collection from my vehicle?

#339

Post by Xfx7028 »

jollyllama wrote: post #298
afh1 wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Main reason why I will never buy an EV, and keep driving my Internet-free Honda until it dies, which will likely be after me.

A real car wouldn't track your sex life or your genome. They effectively stopped making real cars. We will drive the real cars and never buy fakes as long as this remains the case.

A couple days ago there was this article on hn about a startup from Canada making tractors with no electronics and they mentioned that they had 400 orders overnight. I hope we will see something like this also for cars. I suspect the demand is there.

Re: Can I disable all data collection from my vehicle?

#340

Post by wswope »

Xfx7028 wrote: post #339
jollyllama wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A real car wouldn't track your sex life or your genome. They effectively stopped making real cars. We will drive the real cars and never buy fakes as long as this remains the case.

A couple days ago there was this article on hn about a startup from Canada making tractors with no electronics and they mentioned that they had 400 orders overnight. I hope we will see something like this also for cars. I suspect the demand is there.

That’s been the pitch of Slate Auto, which is supposed to release its standard model at the end of this year.

https://www.slate.auto/en

Unfortunately, they’ve been suspiciously quiet since their initial announcement, but fingers crossed. Might actually have a viable new car option if they’re successful.

Post reply on HN