A Stern Warning About In Car Technology and Privacy

In this PSA we discuss a cautionary tale of data privacy, and security that now extends into the automobile as more cars have persistent connections to the internet.

We discuss attitudes in the United States about tech, and how it affects you and potentially your family. If you are planning to buy a new or used car with modern technology pay attention. Whether you buy a Ford, Chevy, Toyota, Honda, or BMW it applies universally.

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#cars #tech #privacy

[albonfilms]

This is why I stopped talking to my wife six months ago and only send her fully encrypted messages through my Freedom Phone. She doesn't know how to read them, but I wasn't gonna let big tech mine our data and ruin our marriage.

She ended up sleeping with Elon Musk. But at least my data is safe.

[JohnFromAccounting]

If a service is free, you're the product.

[fskof]

It’s not just cars. It’s in everything. I was shopping for a new refrigerator and my response to the salesman was “ why would I want my refrigerator connected to WiFi?”

[SomeRandomIndvl]

This is why Savagegeese is the essential automotive content creator.

[aroundomaha]

There is little to no privacy regulation in the U.S. so your data and habits are harvested. Add consumer ambivalence plus poor corporate IT security and you have makings of a perfect storm. Thank you for raising this issue!

[noneofyourbuisness]

Your Volvo story reminded me of my own horror story. When I bought my used TLX. The dealer hyped up its telematics a lot. But never actually bothered walking me through the process of setting it up. Few months later. I get around to wanting to set it up. And Acura tells me it’s still registered under the previous owner and they can see my location in real time. And I had to fax… yes fax was the only way. A copy of my registration and drivers license to prove it was my vehicle now. That was the only way to stop the previous owner from seeing my location. I about lost it.

[bb]

I've been beating the privacy drum for over 20 years, but my biggest takeaway after dozens of papers and articles about invasive tech is that nobody cares.

[MikEaster]

I work in data privacy operations for one of the biggest tech companies in the world. Y'all should care way more about privacy; maybe then we could get some more overarching protections in the US. This video definitely helps you understand about a small portion of it.

[badbd]

It'd be much appreciated if you guys included some basic privacy review as a part of your normal car reviews. I'm not sure how feasible that would be time or effort wise, but I and many others would truly appreciate that information.

[TheMsdos]

As someone who has only owned 90s beaters and works in IT the amount of unnecessary tech in new cars is starting to worry me. Even cheap base model cars have cellular/gps radios and push button start fobs that constantly transmit. Anyone looking to track you doesn't even need access to the car, they can just see what towers you've pinged and triangulate your location.

[JDMFlipFlops]

I've been following them for a couple of years and I think this is the first time I've ever seen an upload on a Saturday. These geese are up to something.

[Sylvan_dB]

Truth. I'm a professional networking firmware engineer. It has become so complex over the past 30 years that even with the best of intents, even if completely regulated, mistakes will be made and lead to bad results.

[Anamnesis]

It's ironic how we look at the situation in Cuba where they continue to keep cars that are half a century old still running. The situation behind that circumstance is different, but the notion of old "dumb" cars could start having a lot more merit in other nations for the reasons given here.

[KEN-duiz]

I'm glad someone with a little reach could shed some light on this situation.

The last few Ford's that I've owned, the system was never reset. I could track both of my vehicles through the app. Initially I thought it was a glitch. So just for the hell of it I tried to starty old truck and sure enough it worked. At that moment I was thinking why the hell is there not a factory reset required every time the vehicle has changed owners. I can track everywhere it goes, lock, unlock, start and so on. All through my phone. On the other hand a new owner can see everywhere I went, search and home. I deleted both vehicles from my app since then however I still get notifications via email that the vehicle is in need of service or if there's a mechanic issue. That I'm not sure how to stop.

I tried for the longest to not be quote unquote connected/plugged in but so many services essentially require you to be or your SOL.

Great video and as always thanks.

[smartbutt]

Fun fact: all new Nissan and Infiniti cars (yes, even the new Z) have a separate telematics box connected to the head unit via a simple mini-USB cable. Disconnecting this box from the head unit disconnects the GPS signal from the antenna, as it leads directly into the head unit. Depending on the vehicle, you can also disconnect the box entirely, though it may have negative effects on other parts of the car (for example, in the current gen Maxima, disconnecting this box will also disable your HVAC as it sources its power directly from it). These boxes also have an internal battery, so even if they get disconnected from the rest of the car they're still constantly communicating with Nissan's servers, at least until the battery eventually dies.

[citizentex]

Savagegeese is a diamond in a pile of poo on YouTube. The quality of reviews and commentary is head and shoulders above the average channel. This video is a masterpiece.

[Nate-zqre]

Well said. I used to work in auto telematics engineering, and among the tech-savvy and even the engineers working on this stuff, people still don't care about privacy. It's hard to tell the risks of privacy because it does not hurt us in ways we can see or feel. Users want the experience, and whenever they hear about the problems, they think "It won't happen to me".

I'm afraid of the day where these tech features are too useful to ignore. Could you imagine your future EV not letting you charge at full capacity or locking out safety features because you're not signed in?

[chrisfreemesser]

I've worked in IT for 30+ years and part of my job includes server and end user security. The thing most regular folks don't realize is that IT organizations spend just as much time planning for WHEN they get hacked as they do trying to prevent being hacked. With the way things are these days, it's become impossible to be 100% secure.

As such when I watch Mark and Jack review a new car loaded with superfluous infotainment or using your phone to start/steer/summon the car or "self driving" features, it makes me throw up in my mouth. Your cell phone or laptop getting hacked is an inconvenience. Your car getting hacked can get somebody killed....and I know full well there's nothing you or the manufacturer can do to 100% prevent it from happening.

[IrocZIV]

The addition of connected features is the car companies raising the temperature of the boiling water car buyers are in.
All companies want 'Devices as a Service' Tesla started it, and BMW followed. Soon we won't own any products, just have monthly fees for everything.

[slava_trushkin]

I bought a 3 year old car recently. It was Opel and I bought it from an Opel dealer in Germany. Car still had 2 phones of previous owner in memory, their home and work places in map. Dealer did great job preparing car for sale, everything was perfect: new brakes, new oil, new filters, clean interior, but they didn't touch computer.