One of the major things was that the privacy policies of the atuo companies basically say we can collect and sell or use or share any of the information we can collect -- and with the sensors, cameras, microphones and connected services related functions, GPS and other things that is a lot of personally identifying information. Plus, they say they can collect from 3rd parties and the data can include things like iris scans, finger prints, voice, face and body, SSN. One even mentioned something about DNA if I remember right.

 
The issue was that the companies are not try to protect the owner, driver or passengers information and privacy but pretty much dump everything they think they might sweep up and putting it in there for legal protection. Basically you're not signing any type of consent form, and I'm sure no one is getting asked to read, have all the terms spelled out, at the time of purchase. Basically, get in the car and you've consented.

 
As I was listening to it I couldn't help but thinking all the clever people who think they are so well hidden behind their burner phone/app are much more exposed than they think. All those that are fearful that any agency getting their information exposes them to risk of extortion/blackmail, well quite likely that if much of the information resides within the car's electronics memory someone with a laptop may well be hacking in soon.

 
Was a few years back but seem that car thieves primary tool has become a laptop. But what happens with the value of the information in car is of more value than the car?

 
Now, the pod cast did not go down that path but it was an interesting listen. Recommended.

in facing cameras that track you eyes to ensure you're paying attention and awake while car is operating in some self-or semi self-driving mode. Some cars have fingerprint readers for unlocking the doors. The microphones can record, and since the things like voice recognition is available already. You can count on newer models, 24 and forward, having some of the generative and predictive AI that goes beyond just driver assist.

 
Cameras and pressure sensors in the seats, as well as the many accelerometers in the car and detect car body movements so would not be difficult to combine the various data inputs, along with camera and mics, and get a conclusion about some type of body to body actions. Certainly with just a camera it would be pretty easy to identify someone getting a blow job.

I don't know about iOS but a few months ago a monthly Android update included a tracker scanner which will automatically alert you if it finds a tracker that stays with you when you're moving. You can just let it do its thing but you can also run a scan manually.

 
Usually when I'm on my way to see a lady I'll run a manual scan to be extra safe.

Point is not you're never fully secure so why bother. It's don't fool yourself into thinking action X made you secure and action X may well introduce other failure points. Burner phones, as the example, tend to introduce the problem of keeping that phone hidden from the persons SO. That only gets mentioned occasionally when people claim it will make them unidentifiable. Common sense about what a persons individual situation and abilities are goes a lot farther than any given tool. So while there are generally some type of work around for most problems then need to be known, within someone's skill set and the implication of the work around need to be consider from that "what risk does this introduce" perspective. You're pretty technical so see it as pretty easy to turn things off in a car others are more limited in their knowledge so might not as easily know how, or be able to figure out how, to do so. You mention remote access mic activation. Well, that can clearly be prevented -- it needs a power source to work. Splice a switch into that line and it will never work unless you want it to. But that is not an easy fix for you I think; just like for most reading here using some bot net is not something they could implement.

 
With regard to the podcast, before I heard it I would never have even thought about the car manufacturer (so we need to also consider the dealership????) having a privacy policy, actually collecting personal information or sharing/selling that information. Certainly not to the extent they seem to be both able to and so probably are doing (or will if it adds to be bottom line).  

 
Anyone else reading this have a "Well no duh! Of course you should be reading the policies on data when you consider buying a new car or getting into someone else's car" moment? (Note the implication here related to just use Uber as a work around.) The solution suggested in the podcast is that everyone should start getting mad as hell and not taking it any more and grilling their state and federal representatives to get off their collective asses and establish so decent privacy protection legislation and standards.

 
While not mentioned in the podcast this is closely related to the larger problem. A few years back a privacy research team performed an analysis on a large, publicly available socio-eonomic data set. The data came from multiple sources, including sources such as IRS tax filings. It was fully scrubbed data and claimed to be 100% anonymized so one on could be personally connected to any of the information. Well, turns out that was a bit of a dream. The collection of data itself allowed the researchers to work backwards, a bit like any good detective or Sherlock Holmes would, to identify the "culprit".

 
All the data that is collected and sold/shared is huge. It's not very expensive to buy and even cheaper to get reports meeting your criteria from specialize data companies who are buying up all the data available -- forget about those generating the data like Google/FB or others. Some specialize in selling to LE, other to anyone that wants to pay.  While I don't think it would be a common occurrence, it would hardly be difficult or every expensive to match a burner phone number to a person with data about where someone car goes -- particularly since both the car and the phone will be using the same cell towers as they go from A to B.

 
Again, that is not to say don't use a burner phone if it makes sense in someone specific case but as your car start providing more and more data for companies to access and then analyze the protection a burner phone provides from some provider/agency/or group faking to be either is diminishing rapidly and has been for some time now. Clearly in cases where a SO can and does access someone's personal phone and snoops around on it a separate phone they don't know about provides a shield for as long as the phone goes undetected.  

 
However, for me, it seems they provide limited, and diminishing, value in preventing those with more than a casual interest in learning who is using the burner phone. And the erosion of that assumed protection is entirely due to the presence of all the data, even if semi-scrubbed/anonymized, allowed to be collected and disseminated, all without the actual person ever really granting permission or in many ways having a good and effective way of opting out. So all you burner phone users should be screaming bloody murder at your representatives about, not only, the car companies' privacy policies but also the general state of privacy protection under our existing law.

I've gotten into the habit of turning off wifi when I go out.

Are you sure this is true?  Lol. At the very least you have to have GPS/location ON each time you connect to an access point.  

 
Otherwise there is no physical way. Access points can always be moved (aka hotspot) . Wifi is accessible without a sim card or gps

 
Either way the only times I use wifi is where I get no signal. Wifi drains battery and it always tries to search for access points, exposing unnecessary info.

-- Modified on 10/3/2023 12:15:31 PM