How to opt out of the privacy nightmare that comes with new Hondas

Imo, the only solution is every device with an antenna must be legally required to put a manual off switch.

Cell service, wifi, Bluetooth, any future service. If it broadcasts it needs a physical off switch.

If I sold my car to a government official and they found out I had hidden a camera, microphone and GPS in the car, I'd get a visit from the FBI. Yet companies do it with impunity. Does the CEO of Subaru have recordings of Bernie Sanders driving in his car?

I hope people realize that the solution isn’t really to just not buy one, especially since this is the way the industry is heading. The solution is regulations, strict regulations.

Stuff like this should be a slam dunk for congress but we all know which side they are on.

We cannot stop collecting data about you because collecting the datum that you want to stop having your data collected failed.

I wonder if the situation in Europe is different, where such bullshit is illegal.

Are any of you even able to afford new cars? Who the hell's buying this shit? I probably won't have a new car ever.

I feel like not buying a Honda would be a pretty good way to opt out. In fact since the majority of car manufacturers are doing this bullshit I feel like simply not purchasing a new car is a great way to opt out of this.

Plenty of older not smart cars that are perfectly usable or fairly easily restored no reason to go dropping the money on a brand new one that's not only a privacy disaster but a repairability disaster on top of it.

I think my favorite is how almost all new cars now come with a sealed transmission with absolutely no way to replace the fluid in it with the claims of it being a "lifetime fluid" there is no such thing as a transmission fluid that can last and do its job forever, what they mean by LifeTime fluid is that it will last long enough to satisfy the warranty. And what they have deemed should be the usable life of the car.

It's sad that you can't replace the infotainment unit in a new car with an aftermarket unit anymore. I imagine 10 years from now we'll have a fleet of cars with outdated infotainment systems that can't connect with whatever future version of bluetooth/carplay/android auto anymore. Imagine driving cars with giant but useless infotainment screens that can't do anything but playing mp3 off a USB stick because its outdated system can't connect to your new phone.

I don't think I'm going to ever buy a car made after 2020. Maybe earlier. None of the new features really appeal to me, and there are a lot of things like this that actively turn me off from wanting a new car.

If they could just give me an electric version of a 1985 VW Golf I'd be happy as a clam. But they want to put me in some lumpy, heavy, clumsy CUV with tracking technology and all the touchscreens and I don't like it.

For those who haven't yet bought a Honda:

• you have the option to buy from alternative brands to say fuck you using your wallet

I’m never buying a Honda again after buying a 2018 Civic model. Less than 10k on it when I bought it and the A/C went out. There’s an issue with the condenser on the 2018/2019 Hondas. They offered to pay HALF of what it’d cost to fix - I’d still be out more than a thousand. And from research online, apparently the replacements tend to fail too.

Pretty much every time I see the same model I ask if the owner has AC. They always have the same problem. It’s going to be real wonderful driving when it gets to the 100’s this summer…

You can opt out by simply not buying one :)

That one is easy: do not get a new Honda.

Pulling the fuse that includes OnStar at least keeps it from calling home. But there's usually some collateral damage.

I'm missing something. How is the data actually collected? How does it get out of my car? My car doesn't have any cellular features other than CarPlay. It has wifi, but I've never used it.

Before I click in, does anyone have any background on the source link author org/individual, haven't seen this outlet before?

The hero photo for the article shows a camera over a road that likely is likely running number plate recognition software...

Honestly I'd be more worried about where that data is going than the tracking software in your car. They've got the most critical information (where did you drive and when), and they've got it for every car instead of just Honda drivers.

This needs to be fixed with legislation, and it needs to be fixed actively. For example by getting rid of number plates entirely and replacing them with something like the transponders used in aircrafts and ships, but with an encrypted rolling code that only shares your data when authorised to do so (by the owner of the vehicle).

Apple "Find My" works like that... your location is encrypted, and it's uploaded without any identifying information. When the user brings up a map looking for their keys, that's the only time encryption keys are handed over allowing the already stored information to be accessed. The car version of that could be police asking you at every traffic stop to hit a button on your dashboard that unlocks your registration/insurance details so they can run a quick check against their outstanding warrant/etc database.

I really do hope that this crap is handled better in EU. At least theoretically it should be.

c/fuckcars

Crap like this is why I ride a motorcycle.

Only one of my bikes even manages to have enough electronics in it to have a clock.

Please, Toyota, don't do this. They refuse to go full out EV. Hopefully they too decide to keep some of these technologies away from their products.

I know how to opt out! I can opt out of buying a honda!

You can rip out the cell connection

The newer model CR-V doesn't need an app, it's just a toggle in the car settings. That icon at the top like the article shows is definitely annoying and I agree in calling it a dark pattern.

You could just not buy a smart car. There is a used market although it is a shrinking industry

Call me an asshole but I think giving driving habit information to insurers is great, so long as good habits are given discounts and bad habits are punished.

I'm one of those people who would love automatic enforcement of driving laws as well as user reportable incidents of other drivers (given you can provide footage of something you're reporting.)

If people don't like living under the law... maybe the law shouldn't exist. "That's the way it is" is a terrible excuse for fucking anything.

Oh, and make audit trails for this shit public record. Someone creating AI videos or fake reports? Punish that too. It'll never happen though. People want laws for others, not themselves.

The size of the title on that article is insane on a monitor.

Anyway.

Companies are quick to flaunt their privacy policies, but those amount to pages upon pages of legalese that leave even professionals stumped about what exactly car companies collect and where that information might go.

Does anyone remember that report about the university researchers who studied one of these smart thermostats and concluded that you would have to sign more than a thousand legal disclaimers to properly consent to have it in your home?