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submitted 7 months ago by Someonelol@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/evs@feddit.uk

I was considering buying a Chevy Bolt lately to use as my daily commuter but found out it collects a lot of data and phones it back. It's hard to do research on what kind of EV I could buy that doesn't collect your location data so I'm hoping someone here might have some good suggestions.

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[-] robolemmy@lemmy.world 38 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

No such animal exists. They’re all rolling data collection machines.

https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/blog/privacy-nightmare-on-wheels-every-car-brand-reviewed-by-mozilla-including-ford-volkswagen-and-toyota-flunks-privacy-test/

I drive a bolt. To somewhat minimize the GM evil, I don’t have the GM app installed and I didn’t give the Bluetooth connection access to anything but Apple CarPlay. Of course if you’re a real privacy purist, you don’t have a smartphone and don’t use Bluetooth anyway.

If you want a car with privacy, you’ll have to buy an old car without a computer.

[-] flappy@lemm.ee 1 points 1 month ago

If you remove their cellular mouths, they won't be able to scream.

[-] DroneRights@lemm.ee 0 points 7 months ago

If you want a car with privacy, you’ll have to buy an old car without a computer.

Or you could just get a bicycle and be free

[-] Pirky@lemmy.world 16 points 7 months ago

I wonder if anyone has tried "jailbreaking" their EV's and running custom OS's on it to get rid of the spyware.
Would most likely void the warranty, but still.

[-] BaldProphet@kbin.social 10 points 7 months ago

I'm holding out for Carbuntu or Carch to be a thing. Or maybe Carian.

[-] trash@lemm.ee 3 points 7 months ago

"I use Carch btw." Yeah, that'll work.

[-] colossus@infosec.pub 7 points 7 months ago

And likely void the insurance policy too.

[-] Neato@kbin.social 8 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Probably not. You can modify cars pretty extensively and insurance doesn't care. As long as it's road legal, which is a very low bar in most states. There have been ECU mods forever and those are still covered.

[-] Maeve@kbin.social 4 points 7 months ago

Locking your keys in a car and calling Pop-a-Lock voids everything afaik, so probably. But still is an interesting spot, possibly sweet.

[-] Varyk@sh.itjust.works 10 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

This is a great question, and as far as I know, the other answers are correct, you're not going to stop any modern vehicles from publishing at least some information.

Aptera nominally seems to be more focused on consumer rights than other ev companies, but I can't even tell if they're in full production yet and also they'll probably still record at least location and safety statistics.

I know a guy who sticks with his older firebird because it has zero microchips. He's coincidentally an addict illegally overstaying his visa and missing a lot of teeth, plus the last three repairs cost more than the car is worth, but no gubbermint is going to find out he drove to Fresno.

[-] TheDeepState@lemmy.world 6 points 7 months ago

We will find out.

[-] chaogomu@kbin.social 1 points 7 months ago

Speaking of Aptera, they're not yet in full production. They're currently about a year or so out.

This video I found talks about where they're at.

[-] uphillbothways@kbin.social 5 points 7 months ago

Haven't they been a year away from production since like 2009? I stopped following their developments at some point because it had been long enough back then.

[-] chaogomu@kbin.social 3 points 7 months ago

They did have some unreasonable promises when they first started.

But now they're making their production intent cars. These are like 99% similar to what the production line will look like.

They're looking to have done all or most of their crash testing and safety tests before this time next year. If the planets align, there might be actual cars delivered to customers some time in 2025.

[-] SomeoneSomewhere@lemmy.nz 4 points 7 months ago

I posted this when the same question got asked on site-that-shall-not-be-named:

I bought a Suzuki Swift. As best I can tell, there is no GPS or cellular radio. Higher specs come with GPS but I think still no cellular.

The NZ privacy policy is very good but is really only referring to service information and the website.

The global privacy policy is still mostly focused on service/dealer information and the website, with a note that they might receive medical information if one of their vehicles is involved in a crash.

The infotainment system (at least this one) comes from Directed Electronics, who again have a privacy policy that appears to be focused on using the website and directly selling things.

There is a section in the manual about 'Vehicle Data Recordings' which says that "these data are exclusively technical" and appears to be a reference to fault codes and crash black-boxes.

There is a Suzuki Connect app that has a privacy policy, which appears to include the 'usual' speed/location/mileage/braking/acceleration, but not the more ridiculous stuff like audio or video, and also says it won't be sold.

Of course, they're not available in the US. You might be able to get one from Mexico? Not sure about legality.

[-] akilou@sh.itjust.works 3 points 7 months ago

Can someone explain exactly how a car is a privacy nightmare? Like what data does it collect and how does it transmit it? Does it have GPS? Is it recording audio somehow? Is it transmitting over cellular data? Verizon, T-mobile? Who's paying that data bill, Toyota?

I just don't get it.

My RAV4 has Android Auto, but I don't have a Toyota app on my phone or anything so how would toyota get stuff from my phone?

[-] Someonelol@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 7 months ago

Here's a useful link from Mozilla that details some of the carmakers doing some shady stuff with their models. In a nutshell, these cars have a GPS transceiver, microphones, and cameras to monitor your location, hear your conversations, and even see who's in the cabin with you. Usually this info can be sold to third parties like insurance companies, cities, advertisers, and more. They can even give the data to law enforcement with few limitations if any. There could be a bunch of other ways this data could be exploited.

Usually these cars have some basic cellular modern to transmit the data but I wouldn't know how much the carmakers pay for the service.

[-] Kata1yst@kbin.social 2 points 7 months ago

Polestar seems to have a very well written and simple privacy policy.

[-] electric_nan@lemmy.ml 2 points 7 months ago

Look into what it takes to disable that "feature". Brief web searching just now showed me that at least on some vehicles, you can locate and disable the modem either by pulling a fuse, or disconnecting antennae.

this post was submitted on 26 Dec 2023
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