Mozilla did a study on cars and data collection. They found it was an industry wide problem. Every manufacturer tested collected tons of personal data and didn’t keep it secure or private. Their writeup does not mention EVs, and it implicated brands like subaru which does not sell an EV in Canada or the US at time of writing.
This is not an EV problem.
Most cars have an internet connection. Many have a cellular modem built in. Modern infotainment systems use the internet and upload the data that way. Many cars also store data internally that is only accessible to authorized service centers through a proprietary tool, which will upload the data when serviced by a dealer. Data is valuable. Companies don’t just refuse to exploit that value on principle.
I don’t trust the laws as they currently exist, which is why I am advocating they be changed to stop this data collection.
All cars have this problem. EVs are not the issue. But not just cars, any device with a computer and an internet connection does this exact same thing. You can’t play whack a mole banning countries in specific industries and do anything. The only solution is broad data protection laws.
The OTA updates thing is mostly the result of tesla’s ineptitude and willingness to ship a defective product in the hopes they can fix it with a patch. They are not the only cars with internet connections.
Mozilla did a study on cars and data collection. They found it was an industry wide problem. Every manufacturer tested collected tons of personal data and didn’t keep it secure or private. Their writeup does not mention EVs, and it implicated brands like subaru which does not sell an EV in Canada or the US at time of writing.
This is not an EV problem.
Most cars have an internet connection. Many have a cellular modem built in. Modern infotainment systems use the internet and upload the data that way. Many cars also store data internally that is only accessible to authorized service centers through a proprietary tool, which will upload the data when serviced by a dealer. Data is valuable. Companies don’t just refuse to exploit that value on principle.
I don’t trust the laws as they currently exist, which is why I am advocating they be changed to stop this data collection.
All cars have this problem. EVs are not the issue. But not just cars, any device with a computer and an internet connection does this exact same thing. You can’t play whack a mole banning countries in specific industries and do anything. The only solution is broad data protection laws.
The OTA updates thing is mostly the result of tesla’s ineptitude and willingness to ship a defective product in the hopes they can fix it with a patch. They are not the only cars with internet connections.