Lesbian Hardcoded.

Seats moving up and down on bumpy road.
Car sensor : sexual activity in progress.

Really goes for almost everything. I don't want my machines and appliances to be 'smart' and 'connected'. I just want them to do the thing I use them for, that's it.

All new cars - Bruce Schneier wrote in cryptogram that he tried to buy a new car without a permanent internet connection to the manufacturer and it wasn't possible.

I'm probably never buying a car newer than the one I have. Everything is so ridiculous now. Though if I can just physically disable the WAN communication it uses I guess that's fine too, though it would likely be expensive to get working again for resale.

It bothers me enough that my car is even capable of doing any kind of steering input I didn't give it myself, brakes are by wire too, but fully depressing the pedal still connects you to the hydraulics directly so kind of a non issue, it allows for AEB which is a good safety feature though I'll likely never trip it.

My current car I think can do some kind of connection but I disabled it in the firmware when I flashed the BCM. Not missed, did nothing of benefit to me afaik.

No idea, but for starters say goodbye to navigation, it likely uses an internet connection

I can't speak for the more modern cars, but my 2019 corolla had a cell phone connection which could be cut by pulling a single fuse. Idunno if it's a universal name, but it was called the DCM module. The emergency button in the roof was wired through it, and so was one of the right speakers and the built-in microphone. None of them work with the fuse removed. I'll route the speaker and mic wires around it at some point by going through the glove box, but it hasn't been a priority for me.

https://www.toyotanation.com/threads/how-do-i-locate-the-dcm-telematics-unit-on-a-2020-corolla.1693507/#post-14400614

I'm happy i did that too. Apparently toyota is still leaking the location history of a bunch of their cars and i'd hate to see that get abused.

Cars are built in modules, so there is definitely something you could disconnect to prevent it phoning home. You might need to take the dashboard apart though.

There is nothing preventing the car from starting and running without it. As long as you have a key fob it will attempt to start.

+1, I’d really like to know the answer to this too.

Hot take: their browser is good.

This particular issue is important enough that I'm glad they did it. We needed somebody to do it, and if that means a tiny bit of funding was diverted from browser work, I think it was more than worth it.

(Also, the Mozilla Foundation is not the same as the Mozilla Corporation.)

We desperately need laws to regulate these kinds of privacy policies/user agreements. The VAST majority are way too long and complicated for a normal person to actually understand, let alone read. We need to limit what companies can/can't do with them instead of letting them do whatever they want to.

We also need a law that prevents them from changing the terms of service on a product someone has been using, then locking them out of it if they don't agree to the new terms.

It is, I think it's been discussed to hell and back that it was the reason.

In Mozilla's "Privacy not included" report, Mazda isn't listed as one of the 25 car brands they tested.

Their related article goes on to state, that all of the 25 brands they tested earned the Label, which I take to mean, that by extension probably most if not every car brand has privacy flaws.

I skimmed through their privacy policy and I'm not confident Mozilla would approve. They can share the telemetry that comes from your car, including it's physical location.

https://www.mazdausa.com/site/privacy-connectedservices

I too came looking for Mazda in the report and was disappointed.

Should I presume Mazda and others that are not listed are doinga good job?

Doubtful. Absence from a list like this usually just means that the people investigating had limited resources, and therefore chose a representative sample instead of doing an exhaustive survey.

If this report gets much attention, it would be a good opportunity for any car makers that do well on privacy (if they exist) to start boldly advertising it.

Done

As expected, Tesla has the worst privacy rating

Second worst were these ones:

Nissan earned its second-to-last spot for collecting some of the creepiest categories of data we have ever seen. It’s worth reading the review in full, but you should know it includes your “sexual activity.” Not to be out done, Kia also mentions they can collect information about your “sex life” in their privacy policy. Oh, and six car companies say they can collect your “genetic information” or “genetic characteristics.” Yes, reading car privacy policies is a scary endeavor.

While they're all bad, Nissan is a no for me. Also between this, the dangerous recalls, and the theft issue, Kia is falling even further down my list

The report: https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/articles/its-official-cars-are-the-worst-product-category-we-have-ever-reviewed-for-privacy/

The petition: https://foundation.mozilla.org/privacynotincluded/articles/car-companies-stop-your-huge-data-collection-programs-en/