• ArtificialLink@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    I mean this is gotta be on the newest Internet connected cars right? Cause like aint no way my 2017 ford focus has that many “privacy issues” it doesn’t even have android auto lol.

    • atrielienz@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Has what’s called a Telematics Control Unit. And that thing phones home. It’s basically a wifi modem.

      • ArtificialLink@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        No it does not. Some models may. But mine does not. Also, as far as I understand you would have to have like a cellular connection or something for your car to phone home anywhere? And not only is that not a service offered on my car? . It would also mean someone has to maintain that device and ensure it’s communicating basically 24/7 . I mean who’s paying for the cell service. Is it running on 3G which is defunct now? If I even had one How can it phone home? I don’t understand.

          • PersnickityPenguin@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            If people really cared about privacy and their cars and were serious about solving it, disabling the telematics control unit or the cellular modem would resolve this issue pretty quickly. None of the cars on the road today need internet connectivity to function.

            However, if they have built-in Google maps or navigation system, well that’s always going to be a privacy issue right? This is no different than having GPS and maps on your phone.

            Judging by the lack of tik Tok videos on how to disable your car’s cell modem, I’m guessing this isn’t that big of an issue for people.

            • atrielienz@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Disabling it often bricks the car because it’s tied into an ECU or network that requires it. Even if it doesn’t and you could say go and unplug it or a fuse for it, the one in the focus (according to Google) is behind the dash and would probably require you to remove the dash to access it. You could unplug an antenna or something but then other features like radio or GPS might not work. If your car has integrated GPS do not be surprised if it’s the same antenna.

              • PersnickityPenguin@lemm.ee
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                1 year ago

                Disabling 4G breaks your car?

                So how am I able to drive a Tesla across Northern Canada where there is no cell phone service or internet whatsoever?

                • atrielienz@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  That’s not what I said. I said removing or messing with the modem may disable the car which was a known thing on on-star vehicles and generally any vehicle where you could for instance have the car disabled remotely or for instance use your phone as a key.

                  • PersnickityPenguin@lemm.ee
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                    1 year ago

                    I just checked my user manual, and you can just pull the fuse for the OnStar unit and it will completely disable it. It does not break the car, I just verified.

          • PersnickityPenguin@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            As these cards age out, the cellular standard that they support will be eventually dropped and then they won’t work. Just like owning an old cell phone.

            • atrielienz@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              This has happened with 3G networked and older vehicles (OnStar has been a thing since the 90’s). People tried to unplug the OnStar hardware but they ran it through a CAN bus and it would disable the car (to prevent thieves from circumventing it).

        • rikonium@discuss.tchncs.de
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          1 year ago

          My parent’s Hyundai had no customer-facing internet-related features on the car. Still had a cellular radio for telematics. A potential tell is an SOS button. (That’s a non-issue since it’s 3G now and that went bye-bye but 4G is going to be around a while)

          But my similar age to your Focus, newer than the Sonata, Sorento had nothing that I could find. So it’s possible.

        • NotSoCoolWhip@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I could waste my time explaining or you could Google it. Long story short is that there are many ways to send information that don’t involve the internet at all, and you’d have to get a mid 90s car if you didn’t want any data sent at all. They got worse in around 2012 when more protocols were added as well

          • ArtificialLink@lemmy.ca
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            1 year ago

            I could waste my time explaining or you could Google it.

            Sounds to me like you’re talking out your ass. Otherwise you could just explain it instead of telling me to google it. You did after all “waste your time” by even responding.