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VW breach exposes location of 800k electric vehicles

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211–220 of 317 posts

Re: VW breach exposes location of 800k electric vehicles

#211
post #150

We need a way to disable vehicle telemetry. No, a software switch is not enough. We need to be able to physically unplug the cellular modem entirely and have the vehicle work with 100% functionality (barring features which inherently require cellular connectivity like turning the heating on remotely) Car manufacturers' features are mostly useless anyway thanks to Android Auto/Apple CarPlay

Why would turning on the heating require cell service? If you’re out of key fob range do you really need to pre-heat the car? The only possible use of cell service is for infotainment and even that’s questionable in a world of ubiquitous cell phones.

>If you’re out of key fob range do you really need to pre-heat the car?

Yeah, that can save 15 minutes of scraping the windows for snow and ice in the morning and afternoon.

Re: VW breach exposes location of 800k electric vehicles

#212
post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just wait.... "Your hammer has reached its monthly nail limit. Please upgrade to the pro plan to unlock an additional 60 nails"

I'm having a really fun time imagining how a hammer would physically prevent you from hammering a nail based on a subscription.

They wouldn't. Instead, they'd try to keep charging you automatically for out-of-plan extra nailing, and if you denied them the ability to charge your CC, they'll put your debt to collections by the end of the month.

Re: VW breach exposes location of 800k electric vehicles

#213

We need a way to disable vehicle telemetry. No, a software switch is not enough. We need to be able to physically unplug the cellular modem entirely and have the vehicle work with 100% functionality (barring features which inherently require cellular connectivity like turning the heating on remotely) Car manufacturers' features are mostly useless anyway thanks to Android Auto/Apple CarPlay

In Europe, this is mandated by law. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECall

Yes and no. Ecall is but telemetry is not. And ecall only makes a call in case of a crash.

Re: VW breach exposes location of 800k electric vehicles

#214

Why the sideways fuck did they even have location data to begin with? It's like the checklist for buying a new car starts with figuring out what circuit drives the cell modem and pop that fuse out before taking a test drive to confirm it doesn't brick anything critical. Fucking ridiculous.

Mobile apps (one of our cars in a VW ID.4, and I can see where it is right now), as well as repo/theft recovery.

Repo isn't a customer's concern and is thus irrelevant. Incidentally I walked to the window and I can see where my truck is without my phone. Is there really no limit to the bullshit folks will allow themselves to be convinced to install on their phones?

Re: VW breach exposes location of 800k electric vehicles

#215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Europe, this is mandated by law. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECall

Yes and no. Ecall is but telemetry is not. And ecall only makes a call in case of a crash.

Ecall could/should use completely separate communications infrastructure than the entertainment/vehicle connectivity functionality.

Re: VW breach exposes location of 800k electric vehicles

#216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes and no. Ecall is but telemetry is not. And ecall only makes a call in case of a crash.

Ecall could/should use completely separate communications infrastructure than the entertainment/vehicle connectivity functionality.

That's difficult because both will need to use the cell network.

But I guess you mean on the car side like two modems? Yeah that would be nice, or at least to mandate the option to turn all manufacturer telemetry completely off. The EU never bothered to do this for computers and phones either though.

Re: VW breach exposes location of 800k electric vehicles

#217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Europe, this is mandated by law. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECall

Yes and no. Ecall is but telemetry is not. And ecall only makes a call in case of a crash.

The GSM SIM cards, by design, can be remotely updated to do whatever the service provider wants (or asked "nicely", or paid to do).

https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/markets/digital-identity-and-...

Re: VW breach exposes location of 800k electric vehicles

#218
post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes and no. Ecall is but telemetry is not. And ecall only makes a call in case of a crash.

The GSM SIM cards, by design, can be remotely updated to do whatever the service provider wants (or asked "nicely", or paid to do). https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/markets/digital-identity-and-...

Or if the service provider is served a warrant, or if they're hacked.

Re: VW breach exposes location of 800k electric vehicles

#219
post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes and no. Ecall is but telemetry is not. And ecall only makes a call in case of a crash.

The GSM SIM cards, by design, can be remotely updated to do whatever the service provider wants (or asked "nicely", or paid to do). https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/markets/digital-identity-and-...

I know, and they can be hacked too through sms messages.

But the sim card doesn't have access to the car telemetry. Probably even the whole baseband module doesn't. It just gets that data to transmit when an accident happens.

The worst you could do by hacking the SIM is to make the modem send nearby cell data somewhere. Which is serious enough because the rough location can be derived from it. But it's a far cry from what these manufacturers collect.

Re: VW breach exposes location of 800k electric vehicles

#220

This is made worse by the fact that they created a really bad UX for their cars in the name of data protection (at least in Germany). Example: you have to accept the T&C of the online services with every(!) start of the vehicle. If you don’t press either the accept or reject button, you can’t enter any of the nav / entertainment/ … screens. In the name of data protection, you are not even allowed to have two main use…

Accepting T&C is for covering their asses, not data protection. Smells like bullshit excuse.
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