Latest grab by auto manufactures

[Gator6x4]

What has changed is Who is Selling What, to Who. (Probably should have a Whom in that sentence; HS English was long ago....).

Print newspapers didn't monitor: What you read, How long you looked at it, What you looked at Next, What articles you went back to, What further use you made of the physical paper etc..... If they had, they would have tried to extract more money from Pet Supply advertisers, once they knew how many readers used the old paper to line bird cages.....

That is why all these OEMs want apps on your cell phones, instead of providing low-cost dedicated electronic fobs for you when you buy a new $50k+ vehicle...... they make stupid amounts of money, selling all the data they collect. One young guy I knew that was studying Automotive Marketing went to a major conference - a presenter broke down examples of what the data was worth - your Facebook et al information was worth much more to them than the sale of a typical physical vehicle.

So Yes, the visible Subscription $ noted in this thread re. keeping the vehicle operating As Delivered New are annoying to most people, but IMO, they are just the tip of the consumer-exploitation iceberg.

It's not hard to argue that we are becoming less of a pure Consumer, and more of a Data Set commodity.....

Rgds, D.

I do not know of a motor vehicle being offered for sale or being sold in the US that the purchaser is not provided either two keys or two electronic fobs. Apps on cell phones are nice but some States do not have 100 percent cell phone service Coverage.

Some examples.

No Signal: The Worst Cellular Dead Zones in the US

We just drove 10,000 miles around the country testing cellular networks. Bring a satellite phone if you’re headed to one of these locations.

www.pcmag.com

Another thing is that a lot of States have laws prohibiting the installation of GPS location devices.

Private Use of Location Tracking Devices: State Statutes

View our table for reviewing state statutes regarding the private use of location tracking devices.

www.ncsl.org

Without GPS locating locator a phone app would not work.

 

[Oaktree]

I do not know of a motor vehicle being offered for sale or being sold in the US that the purchaser is not provided either two keys or two electronic fobs. Apps on cell phones are nice but some States do not have 100 percent cell phone service Coverage.

Another thing is that a lot of States have laws prohibiting the installation of GPS location devices.

Without GPS locating locator a phone app would not work.

And not everyone has or in some cases even wants a smartphone.

In reading the article you linked to on tracking devices, there seem to be a lot of holes in those laws, particularly in defining "consent". In most cases the EULA (you know, that boilerplate you have to click on in order for a program to install) has a clause stating that installing the program implies consent to whatever it wants to do.
Not sure how that works with vehicles, given how most, if not all connect to the mothership frequently. I'm sure there's some similar boilerplate in the sales contract stating that by purchasing the vehicle you consent.

IMHO these laws need to be stronger and give consumers more than an "all or nothing" option.

 

[3930dave]

Another thing is that a lot of States have laws prohibiting the installation of GPS location devices.

Private Use of Location Tracking Devices: State Statutes

View our table for reviewing state statutes regarding the private use of location tracking devices.

www.ncsl.org

Without GPS locating locator a phone app would not work.

What Google has been doing with Wifi (and end-point device) mapping is a now-ancient story. (Note date of CNET article).

Removing your Wi-Fi network from Google's map

That ^ notwithstanding, I think it would be really challenging to source a modern cell phone that lacks GPS hardware.....

I have no faith (at all) in any consumer Privacy Laws..... if you have the hardware with you, it will be exploited.

Rgds, D.

 

[Jstpssng]

News papers were before my time. I'm only 32


Cable tv was their best method of delivery in my time but cable killed it self and died to streaming and the internet. Which is killing itself with subscription services.

We are at the point every body wants to offer a subscription,

News, Netflix, hulu, HBO, YouTube, you name it.

You raise a valid point. However, that doesn't change that a subscription is nothing new. I would prefer they charged me a fee; and gave me the option of not allowing cookies. Unless it's something I really need, when that "accept cookies" window pops up I will hit the back button.

Another thing I DO resent is how so many places now require "autopay." I don't allow that, period. I will pay for a year in advance, but will not allow anybody that kind of access to my finances... not even the Credit Union where my mortgage is and paycheck is deposited.
I looked into Starlink, but the autopay requirement was a deal breaker for me. I have to wonder how many people are paying for things which they've forgotten they even had,and stopped using years ago.

 

[Gator6x4]

What Google has been doing with Wifi (and end-point device) mapping is a now-ancient story. (Note date of CNET article).

Removing your Wi-Fi network from Google's map

That ^ notwithstanding, I think it would be really challenging to source a modern cell phone that lacks GPS hardware.....

I have no faith (at all) in any consumer Privacy Laws..... if you have the hardware with you, it will be exploited.

Rgds, D.

If I wanted to float around incognito I would purchase a benco V80s smart phone.

“Benco V80s is a privacy-focused phone without cameras and GPS. A very unusual Android smartphone launched today - the benco V80s comes without any cameras and omits a GPS receiver in its quest to bring you a privacy-centric device. The phone comes with a 6.5-inch IPS LCD, Unisoc SC9863A chipset and a 5,000 mAh battery.”

 

[arrow]

You raise a valid point. However, that doesn't change that a subscription is nothing new. I would prefer they charged me a fee; and gave me the option of not allowing cookies. Unless it's something I really need, when that "accept cookies" window pops up I will hit the back button.

Another thing I DO resent is how so many places now require "autopay." I don't allow that, period. I will pay for a year in advance, but will not allow anybody that kind of access to my finances... not even the Credit Union where my mortgage is and paycheck is deposited.
I looked into Starlink, but the autopay requirement was a deal breaker for me. I have to wonder how many people are paying for things which they've forgotten they even had,and stopped using years ago.

I have two auto pays out of about 50 bill pay listings.
I established another bank account that I have a gnat hair of money in that just to cover the auto pay.
If anyone attempts to pilfer from the account, all they'll get is schillings.

 

[Jstpssng]

If I wanted to float around incognito I would purchase a benco V80s smart phone.

“Benco V80s is a privacy-focused phone without cameras and GPS. A very unusual Android smartphone launched today - the benco V80s comes without any cameras and omits a GPS receiver in its quest to bring you a privacy-centric device. The phone comes with a 6.5-inch IPS LCD, Unisoc SC9863A chipset and a 5,000 mAh battery.”

Apparently they aren't available in the USA.

 

[3930dave]

If I wanted to float around incognito I would purchase a benco V80s smart phone.PINEPHONE | PINE64

“Benco V80s is a privacy-focused phone without cameras and GPS. A very unusual Android smartphone launched today - the benco V80s comes without any cameras and omits a GPS receiver in its quest to bring you a privacy-centric device. The phone comes with a 6.5-inch IPS LCD, Unisoc SC9863A chipset and a 5,000 mAh battery.”

Stripping out that hardware helps a bit (hackers or geeks do it themselves on "normal" phones, regular consumers usually won't bother), but there is still the Wifi scanning problem. My experience with Android - it will often turn on Wifi, for its own purposes, even if you've set the soft-switch Off.

If I was looking for that type of hardware, I'd probably consider Pine....

PINEPHONE | PINE64

..... or one of their older models.....

Linux aside, it has hardware kill-switches out of the box...

Rgds, D.

 

[rontaki]

You raise a valid point. However, that doesn't change that a subscription is nothing new. I would prefer they charged me a fee; and gave me the option of not allowing cookies. Unless it's something I really need, when that "accept cookies" window pops up I will hit the back button.

I frequently clear browser data from my devices, partly to deter tracking and just to keep things lean and clean.

Sometimes I'll use the browser's cleaning functions, on the Windows PCs I also use BleachBit.
On Android, Firefox can be set so using the Quit function clears all data including cookies.

So, yeah, load those cookies onto my device. They won't be there very long. The only downside is having to log in to sites after cleaning.

 

[MiserableOldFart]

Maybe someday, but that "someday" is at least a decade away. And if vehicle shortages continue, resale value of pretty much anything roadworthy will remain high. EVs have a long way to go before they're an "everyman" vehicle.

My bet is that a decade from now, 80% or more of new car sales in the USA will be EV, and ICE vehicles will be MORE expensive.