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U.S. DOJ demands Apple and Google unmask over 100k users of car-tinkering app

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Re: U.S. DOJ demands Apple and Google unmask over 100k users of car-tinkering app

#311

Post by fakedang »

cogman10 wrote: post #21
embedding-shape wrote: post #3

> The government says it needs this information to identify and interview witnesses who can testify about how the tools were actually used. Why start this whole thing, if you don't already have this information and have people willing to help you as witnesses? Sounds to me they're saying they don't have this already, but why is this investigation happening in the first place then? Rather than finding every user of th…

Yeah, I'd HAPPILY report every single truck rolling coal around me if there was a place to report that information. Hell, I've seen a truck roll coal around cop cars and, obviously, nothing happened. This is just gross privacy intrusion masquerading as "protecting the environment". We don't need 100% compliance to the law and simple prosecution/ticketing of obvious violations would go a long way towards solving the p…

This admin caring about the environment and emissions control should be ringing alarm bells and raising red flags.

Re: U.S. DOJ demands Apple and Google unmask over 100k users of car-tinkering app

#312

Post by fc417fc802 »

tpm wrote: post #307
fc417fc802 wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet somehow in the US states that don't have inspections things keep working. It's not as though we don't have statistics regarding the causes of traffic incidents.

There is a world of difference between keeping working and working safely. I don't know about technical and emmission inspections in the US but in our country they also check stuff like properly aligned headlights so you don't blind other cars, the brakes, geometry etc., and I'm pretty sure without those check the cars would drive on the roads and cause safety issues. > For emissions, again who cares. Well for exampl…

The safety part was exactly my point about the statistics. I've never come across anything to indicate that a noticable number of injuries or deaths are in any way related to equipment failure. The typical contenders are things like intoxication, drowsiness, distraction, and blatant recklessness or even anger.

Headlights is the only thing I'll agree with you on as being terrible in the US (at least all the parts I've lived in and visited). It's purely a matter of enforcement though. People replace the stock bulbs with arbitrary stuff they ordered that's absolutely blinding and the police seem to just ignore it. It's incredibly frustrating.

What I meant by spot enforcement was responding to credible reports or opportunistic observations with surprise physical inspections. Basically the same thing they do for equipment condition in the states that don't have safety inspections. If there's black smoke billowing from your tailpipe or other obviously faulty equipment I think it's reasonable for the police to investigate that.

Re: U.S. DOJ demands Apple and Google unmask over 100k users of car-tinkering app

#313

Post by embedding-shape »

lacewing wrote: post #207
kube-system wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vehicle regulation in the US is piss poor. Here's the full list of states that require all passenger vehicles to be inspected for safety and emissions every year: * New York * Massachussets * Vermont

I used to live in Massachusetts. I'm not sure it's a benchmark to look up to. If buy a brand new car from a dealer, your next stop must be an inspection station - a pointless waste of time and money. But if your car is older than 15 years? You're no longer required to have an annual emissions test. Pretty backwards.

> If buy a brand new car from a dealer, your next stop must be an inspection station

Has the car never been inspected before, since it's new? Then it'd make sense that it'd be inspected before allowed on the road, not sure this is such a big deal?

Re: U.S. DOJ demands Apple and Google unmask over 100k users of car-tinkering app

#314

Post by WesolyKubeczek »

cogman10 wrote: post #21
embedding-shape wrote: post #3

> The government says it needs this information to identify and interview witnesses who can testify about how the tools were actually used. Why start this whole thing, if you don't already have this information and have people willing to help you as witnesses? Sounds to me they're saying they don't have this already, but why is this investigation happening in the first place then? Rather than finding every user of th…

Yeah, I'd HAPPILY report every single truck rolling coal around me if there was a place to report that information. Hell, I've seen a truck roll coal around cop cars and, obviously, nothing happened. This is just gross privacy intrusion masquerading as "protecting the environment". We don't need 100% compliance to the law and simple prosecution/ticketing of obvious violations would go a long way towards solving the p…

Make a law that fines coal rollers heavily, gets their car seized, their driver’s license revoked for life — all for the first offense. Give cops bonuses for the most coal rollers caught, allow them to power trip as much as they like, and I guarantee that a full-on hunting season will open.

Re: U.S. DOJ demands Apple and Google unmask over 100k users of car-tinkering app

#315

Post by gruez »

bornfreddy wrote: post #279
nabakin wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then you can sandbox

Their app is still running all the time. I do not know what exactly it is collecting, but I'm sure it sends a lot of information to Google. Even just the fact that Google knows my IP (which is otherwise dynamically assigned) at any time is too much. On the other hand, if you try selectively enabling and disabling the service, the push notifications stop working. LineageOS + MicroG is a much better solution if you onl…

>Even just the fact that Google knows my IP (which is otherwise dynamically assigned) at any time is too much.

>LineageOS + MicroG is a much better solution

Doesn't microg still connect to google? I'm not sure what your threat model is here.

Re: U.S. DOJ demands Apple and Google unmask over 100k users of car-tinkering app

#316

Post by jt2190 »

embedding-shape wrote: post #313
lacewing wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to live in Massachusetts. I'm not sure it's a benchmark to look up to. If buy a brand new car from a dealer, your next stop must be an inspection station - a pointless waste of time and money. But if your car is older than 15 years? You're no longer required to have an annual emissions test. Pretty backwards.

> If buy a brand new car from a dealer, your next stop must be an inspection station Has the car never been inspected before, since it's new? Then it'd make sense that it'd be inspected before allowed on the road, not sure this is such a big deal?

Why would a brand new car not be road worthy? Is it common for new cars to be unsafe to drive?

Re: U.S. DOJ demands Apple and Google unmask over 100k users of car-tinkering app

#317

Post by The_President »

tamimio wrote: post #141

I somehow suspect this is a pretext to ban OBD monitoring/control tools. I have two in my car, one to monitor everything and log the performance, the other to control the gas intake accurately and safely as opposed to non-obd ones. I hope obd won’t become like radar detectors.

Detectors are legal in most states except two where they've managed to regulate the detection of light waves.

Re: U.S. DOJ demands Apple and Google unmask over 100k users of car-tinkering app

#318

Post by Denatonium »

ashirviskas wrote: post #94
Denatonium wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of us are already doing this. My main phone is a Google Pixel 8 running LineageOS 23.2 with F-Droid, microG, and Aurora Store installed. For things requiring Play Integrity, I picked up a $20 burner carrier-locked Motorola phone at Walmart for $30. It's WiFi-only, given that I'm never going to pay for service on it, but I can also tether it to my main phone. It's also useful for writing one-star reviews on apps…

>For things requiring Play Integrity, I picked up a $20 burner carrier-locked Motorola phone at Walmart for $30.` So it's a $30 burner phone, not $20?

I forget if it was $20 or $29.99, but in either event, it wasn't much. If you shop at Wally World regularly, you can sometimes find carrier burner phones for $10-$20, but finding them in-stock can be a bit of a challenge.

Re: U.S. DOJ demands Apple and Google unmask over 100k users of car-tinkering app

#319

Post by Spooky23 »

fc417fc802 wrote: post #289
ajsnigrutin wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in a country with mandatory (mostly-)yearly car inspections (and all other motor vehicles). Many time you don't even know that there's an issue and they only find it during the inspection. Handbrake works only on one side, normal brakes don't work properly on one of the wheels, there's play in one of the joints or tie rods, etc. You park, pull the handbrake, you have no idea that if you parked on an incline, y…

And yet somehow in the US states that don't have inspections things keep working. It's not as though we don't have statistics regarding the causes of traffic incidents.

If you spend your time in the northeast and drive south semi-regularly, you notice it if you’re observant. There’s broken down cars and shredded tire debris everywhere.

Inspection is one driver of that. Salt eats cars up north which limits daily drivers to 8-10 years which is probably a bigger one. But a significantly higher number of vehicles aren’t really road worthy.

Re: U.S. DOJ demands Apple and Google unmask over 100k users of car-tinkering app

#320

Post by Spooky23 »

fc417fc802 wrote: post #312
tpm wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a world of difference between keeping working and working safely. I don't know about technical and emmission inspections in the US but in our country they also check stuff like properly aligned headlights so you don't blind other cars, the brakes, geometry etc., and I'm pretty sure without those check the cars would drive on the roads and cause safety issues. > For emissions, again who cares. Well for exampl…

The safety part was exactly my point about the statistics. I've never come across anything to indicate that a noticable number of injuries or deaths are in any way related to equipment failure. The typical contenders are things like intoxication, drowsiness, distraction, and blatant recklessness or even anger. Headlights is the only thing I'll agree with you on as being terrible in the US (at least all the parts I've…

It’s definitely debatable, and is unlikely to be a primary factor in a significant number of events. It’s also hard to measure because the data is pretty bad.

As an example, your tire could blow out and cause you to hit a drunk pedestrian. It would be flagged as an alcohol related crash. Police are mostly interested in violations and liability, and you are responsible. Unless it’s a fatality, nobody will even ask if your failure to stop was related to poor brakes or bald tires.

In my opinion, the only clear stat is how many people are dead. Everything else requires domain expertise to interpret.

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