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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

#291
post #246

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.

>I think at least one manufacturer was considering eliminating FM radio all together.

Are you sure it wasn't the elimination of AM radio? I have not heard of anyone suggesting to kill the FM radio, but I'm not that dialed in

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

#292
post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's probably true that once you (more or less) need a screen for a decent backup camera and most people like a screen for at least GPS, it must be pretty tempting to at least think about what physical buttons can reasonably be eliminated given that the touchscreen is a given. And I do think a lot of designs go too far.

>and most people like a screen for at least GPS personal anecdotes, but the vast majority of me being a passenger to someone else's driving, they all used their mobile device for GPS. even the couple of cars i owned that had a nav system, the GPS came from the mobile device. it required their app to be installed to input the destination, making the internal unit just a second screen for your mobile.

I use CarPlay if I'm actually navigating, not the built-in Garmin. But it's an improvement over looking at the phone awkwardly clamped to an air vent.

I suspect most people don't use most of the native manufacturer apps even if they sort of need to provide them. Aside from rarely changing some settings, my touchscreen is mostly just a screen.

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

#293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These markups are insane, and I wonder if anyone actually gets anywhere near paying them. I don’t really see the point since for those markups you can just get a nicer car. Unless car collectors really are that out of touch and flush with cash.

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…

It's a fair point though.

The markups are a function of demand and are totally normal and expected market behavior. People who complain about it are almost exclusively people who don't understand how markets work. It's tiring listening to uneducated people constantly coming through and complaining.

If dealers weren't marking up the price, there would be no car at all available for sale. People mistakenly think that if there was no markup, they could buy the car at MSRP. No. There would be no supply at all. They would be sold out and you'd be on a waiting list at best.

This is the same dynamic as GPUs of 2021 and perpetually with concert tickets (venues will always have fewer seats than the number of fans in the area).

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

#294

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…

If you want best in class safety tech and no dealer markups, you can just order a Tesla online

Not to mention the occasional automated drive into stationary objects. Guess that's partly why they have the "best in class safety tech".

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

#295
post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Frayed seatbelts won't pass an MOT in the UK. (Don't know about any other country).

I have no required inspections here in the US... No Emissions, no Safety, no inspections at all

For anyone from outside the US concerned about this: car inspection standards are state-specific. Many states have far more stringent standards.

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

#296
post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

>I think at least one manufacturer was considering eliminating FM radio all together. Are you sure it wasn't the elimination of AM radio? I have not heard of anyone suggesting to kill the FM radio, but I'm not that dialed in

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.

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

#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?

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

#299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

I was riding in a friend’s Tesla where the screen crashed while we were on the road. Just a black screen for some amount of time and had zero insight into the state of the car. That just does not happen with physical controls.

[deleted]

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

#300
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

Maybe kill-switch is not the best definition of the feature. The required technology monitors the driver to prevent starting the car or forcing it to pull over. In the context of the parent article which explains how the overall monitoring systems fail on privacy and security, we can see how these combined with the car stopping feature can be used against us. We are ultimately trusting the companies and government to do what is in our interests rather than theirs. Some people trust Apple not to use or share their data with government to be used against them. Trusting the largest corporation in the world and the most powerful government in the world is a major leap for me, but everybody theoretically makes their own choices.
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