Just came across a post on Reddit asking about cars, thought I’d ask here too.

The article the reddit post cited was: https://www.thankyourobot.com/2023/07/on-road-to-privacy-invasion-unmasking.html

In short, if I’m in the market to purchase a new car, which one should I go for to improve privacy? And if we assume that such a thing is not possible anymore, what can we do for our (newer) cars to be more private? I was considering things like removing the radio antenna (if I can, that depends on the model of the car).

I’m also interested in knowing just how would car companies mine information from a car if I haven’t connected my mobile to it? Do cars have SIMs inside them that have free 4G/5G access and can send information that way? How would I check if my car is doing something like this?

Thanks!

  • G234323@lemmy.fmhy.ml
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    1 year ago

    Opel cars for sure do it. And probably most cars do it now a days. If you have a button to call emergency services then for sure it has a sim. But hard to tell if it sends info to the company or not. Personally I dont see any reason to buy any NEW car. Cars with a few years are way cheaper and you get almost the same, problem with new cars is that it losses a lot of value the moment y ou sign. But I would try japansese cars, toyota or honda are good.

    • MigratingtoLemmy@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      Hi, thanks, I do plan to stick to Japanese brands for this one. I do see your point, it’s just I know nothing about cars and would have no idea how to do repairs if it broke down. I’d like to find cars with warranties so I don’t have to deal with the repairs as much.