Modern cars are spy hubs on wheels, tracking your location, conversations, and behavior.

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[–] 36 points 4 months ago (63 children)

Just don’t buy a new car. Simple as.

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  • [–] 47 points 4 months ago (36 children)

    That's not going to be a choice forever though. Even the best maintained cars eventually fail.

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  • [–] 14 points 4 months ago (20 children)

    Can't you get older car rebuilt into electric? Seems like it could give it some more years. Correct me if I am wrong tho, I am not great at cars lol

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  • [–] 12 points 4 months ago (7 children)

    Sure, but IIRC, there's a federal law requiring certain devices to be included in a new car. That probably doesn't include a rebuild, but it could if that becomes a popular enough option to avoid it. It's also usually quite expensive.

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  • [–] 6 points 4 months ago (4 children)

    Would hope for EU to not have these laws, but I feel like that would be too much hope

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  • [–] 8 points 4 months ago (3 children)

    The EU seems to being going full steam on destroying privacy too, so I wouldn't bet on it.

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  • [–] 4 points 4 months ago (2 children)

    Unfortunately yeah... I believe they are talking about reviving Chat Control 1.0 today... Once again

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  • [–] 4 points 4 months ago

    Yeah and even if someone is just making barebones frames for kit builds, I think there are legal limits on the number of kit cars that a single shop can do in a year. But those are corporate protectionist laws that we should probably get rid of.

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  • [–] 8 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    Can’t you get older car rebuilt into electric?

    For $50,000 ...then you get an old car no one can fix.

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  • [–] 3 points 4 months ago*

    Not quite that much in most cases, but yes a good electric conversion is always in the 5 digits. My old Ranger would be $20K in today's dollars to full convert, if done professionally and correctly. And there's enough rust problems with a frame from the early 90s that you question if something like that is worth it in the long run.

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  • [–] 6 points 4 months ago (9 children)

    Some companies do offer this for a quite hefty price.

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  • [–] 5 points 4 months ago (8 children)
  • [–] 5 points 4 months ago (7 children)

    I looked at it at one point (quite a while back) and yes, it was more than a new car usually. It alone was about the price of a new car, like $30k IIRC (again, many years ago I think pre-covid even). You also need to include the car, so add a few thousand, or more depending on the car.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago (4 children)

    If I already have a car I like that sounds like an awesome deal.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago (3 children)

    Yeah, it's definitely something to look into. It's not a bad deal at least. It just costs a lot because it's mostly unique work for a single vehicle, rather than a factory pumping out the same one over and over.

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  • [–] 7 points 4 months ago (4 children)
  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago (2 children)

    That's a whole new ethical dilemma, ride a bike!

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (1 child)

    Ok, I’ll throw you a softball. Let’s say there’s a corporation that wants to use your labor, but doesn’t want to pay you. They buy up all the housing in the area, and all the stores, and they refuse to allow you to buy food or shelter unless you give them your labor, and they’ll give you a credit that you can only use at their stores. That’s bad, right? The government should be there to protect the people from this exploitation, right? If not, the people end up with no freedom.

    The company store is small back (called loyalty programs), all this is again happening it stopped before due to some very violent incidents and the political fallout forcing legal change. Like most of the government backed rights given. You are discribing the difference between a well run nation (where this shit gets regulated due to the betterment of the state) and the us. Its not the government's job to protect its people from themselves, but to govern a nation towards a better future while keeping outside powers in check. It can look like the government is protecting people, but having that mindset is how you get a police state (see america).

    We both agree that regulation is needed, but we don't agree on why and the clear limits that have been crossed. Automobiles are not safer, in fact there are more "accidents" then ever due to blinding lights, over reliance on automation/sensors and limited visibility. What the new standards have done is make crashes more survivable, basicly the idea of fuck you I got mine in large metal and plastic form.

    The more people just roll over and take it the more of a circus we all live in. Clown world is going strong just on the inertia of inaction. Americans used to stand up against things they did not agree with, it was called civil disobedience (and more) and got shit done. Now the people of the states get new horrors a dystopian novel would have a hard time coming up with on the regular and they treat it as if its some other peoples issue.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago*

    The company store is small back (called loyalty programs), all this is again happening it stopped before due to some very violent incidents and the political fallout forcing legal change. Like most of the government backed rights given. You are discribing the difference between a well run nation (where this shit gets regulated due to the betterment of the state) and the us. Its not the government's job to protect its people from themselves, but to govern a nation towards a better future while keeping outside powers in check. It can look like the government is protecting people, but having that mindset is how you get a police state (see america).

    How do you say that this is prevented from happening again due to legal changes, but also say the government shouldn't be doing that? Do you think they should be allowed to? Do you think people should just fight them every time they try it? If the latter, what's the difference between that and a government? (Hint: there isn't one. That is a government.)

    Yes, the US is failing to fulfill its obligations to the people. I've made that point. Saying that this means they have no obligations is insane though.

    We both agree that regulation is needed, but we don't agree on why and the clear limits that have been crossed. Automobiles are not safer, in fact there are more "accidents" then ever due to blinding lights, over reliance on automation/sensors and limited visibility. What the new standards have done is make crashes more survivable, basicly the idea of fuck you I got mine in large metal and plastic form.

    I don't recall stating where I think the limits should be. To be clear, my limits are where it helps protect other people. I don't give a shit if you choose to drive a personal deathtrap, as long as others are as safe as possible, who did not consent. We are failing this but, again, that doesn't mean we should do nothing. It means we need to change things. I'd rather not live in a Mad Max style free-for-all.

    Edit: Also, there should be privacy protections. Even if it helps other people, there's no need to destroy all privacy. Your privacy should have protections, just as other people's rights need protecting from your vehicle.

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  • [–] 16 points 4 months ago (10 children)

    Physically disconnecting the broadband antenna is always a solid option too

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  • [–] 15 points 4 months ago (4 children)

    For as long as they let you. Watch, soon they'll be required to connect to the network at least every 30 days to function.

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  • [–] 3 points 4 months ago (2 children)

    so you splice a switch into the antenna wire.

    They can't require connectivity or all cars would stop in tunnels.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago (4 children)

    Nope. I'll just upload your data when the mechanic plugs into the computer

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago (9 children)

    Burning fossil fuels is not acceptable

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  • [–] 9 points 4 months ago (7 children)

    It may surprise you, but even older cars can be refitted with an electric engine. It isn't very cheap, but there's no surveillance there.

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  • [–] 5 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    It can be relatively cheap if you dont care about having an extreme range. I know someone who turned an old beetle electric, and it just runs off of ~10 lead acid batteries if i remember right. Not a huge range, but enough to go to work and get groceries.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago (3 children)

    Drama queens here...you can unplug the antenna on any car. No need to McGuyer/A-Team it.

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  • [–] 9 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

    Big, ugly, expensive cars that I can’t fix myself with tracking software and touch screens are unacceptable.

    Besides, I’ll get more horsepower from E100 and if it’s a diesel I can use fry oil.

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