Automatic Transmission – a data-privacy study of connected vehicles
Automakers’ “connected vehicles” are increasingly sending detailed telemetry and location data to manufacturers, tech companies, advertisers, and even insurers, often with limited or coercive opt-out options. Commenters weigh trade-offs between modern features and pervasive surveillance, describing workarounds like pulling modem fuses, avoiding companion apps, or sticking with older, less connected cars, while worrying that non-participation could itself be penalized through higher insurance rates or reduced functionality. Many see stronger privacy and right-to-repair laws as the only durable fix, but are pessimistic about political will given industry incentives and government interest in the data.
Overall sentiment
- Strong concern and frustration about pervasive data collection by modern cars.
- Many feel options for privacy-conscious consumers are very limited or coercive.
- Mix of resignation (“I’ll just keep an old car”) and desire for technical and political pushback.
Consumer options and “blame the user”
- Frequent criticism of the “just don’t buy it / don’t use features” response as victim‑blaming and unrealistic in many markets.
- Common personal strategies: keep or rebuild older (pre-connected) cars, buy used vehicles with obsolete 3G modems, or avoid car ownership with e-bikes/public transit.
- Some accept that giving up connected features (remote start, apps, live traffic) is the necessary trade-off for privacy.
Technical workarounds
- Many discuss pulling fuses, unplugging cellular modems, or using Faraday shielding.
- Others note this only stops live transmission; data can still be dumped during dealership service.
- Some cars reportedly allow simple modem removal without nagging; others nag at every startup if online services are disabled.
- Interest in a market or standard feature for disabling telemetry; desire for a “no-snoop” car model list.
Brand / model differences
- Mention of a relatively privacy-respecting EV startup with no default modem and optional telematics module.
- Honda praised for improving practices but still criticized for sharing VIN + location.
- Some reports that European brands and Lexus have fewer in-car trackers, while many US brands and Tesla are viewed as worse.
- Debate over whether privacy toggles (e.g., in Teslas) are trustworthy, given past misuse of captured images.
Insurance and secondary use of data
- Concern that insurers already reward telemetry use and may effectively penalize those who opt out.
- Examples of apps that monitor continuously and assume “hidden” driving if data is missing.
- Worry that “absence of data” becomes a negative signal for pricing.
Legislation, rights, and broader risks
- Calls for stronger consumer protection, right-to-repair, and DMCA reform, but pessimism about political will.
- Observations that governments and agencies buy this data and view it as “anonymous” safety data.
- One commenter working with fleet data describes fine-grained GPS tracking and flags national security risks (e.g., tracking military or sensitive personnel).