Privacy
Are there any EV SUVs available in the USA which are not a privacy nightmare? I don't want or need cloud services as part of my car, and I definitely don't need the car's manufacturer collecting data on everything I do. Mozilla's privacy report has me extremely hesitant. I don't mind unplugging a fuse or similar if there is a model where that is confirmed to work cleanly.
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Are there any new vehicles at all that aren't a privacy nightmare?
Bikes (most of them)
How I wish we didn't have a huge portion of Neanderthals as the population and could actually support proper walkable cities with proper bike infrastructure.
Maybe some of the really old Chevy EVs or first generation Nissan Leafs? But Chevy was fined by the US government for their privacy abuses in recent years.
Unintuitively, the forthcoming Slate pickup will have no infotainment system—not even speakers—and minimal telemetry, potentially one of the most privacy-friendly new cars. You’re basically expected to bring your own devices. The surprise part of that is Slate is getting a lot of its financial backing from Jeff Bezos. This will be one of the least-expensive EVs in the US when it launches, supposedly at the end of the year.
Eh, Bezos is a rich bastard. Rich bastards invest in lots of things. I try not to hold it against the product.
That's not all exactly correct, I believe. It will be very hard to spec the vehicle to be as inexpensive as they claim and in 2027 (Sept.) all new cars must have onboard surveillance. If the car detects the driver is impaired, it won't start. Unless there's some kind of exemption for small volume or something, Slate will have to add it.
EDIT: Looks like this is only partially true. The most nefarious part either did not pass or hasn't passed yet. Apologies for the partial misinformation. Here is a reference:
new-cars-by-2027-what-the-law-actually-requires/
That's fortunately been delayed indefinitely since there's no commercially available tech that can do the job. And nothing in the works right now shows more than minimal promise.
A requirement for regular driver monitoring systems is still coming though right? At least in Europe.
It's still on the books, but isn't really being funded. Most likely it won't happen until there's some political event to give it a push. Also it's going to be tied to fully automatic driving being considered safe, which it's not, and is likely to be a ways off.
Do you have a reference for that new law? I'd like to see if my congresspeople voted for it
Man I just saw this on a YouTube video saying the law passed but this sure shows that it essentially only partially passed. It looks like I was duped. I'll correct this misinformation. Here is a recent reference to what actually DID pass.
new-cars-by-2027-what-the-law-actually-requires/
Bezos isn't new to investing in EVs, he also was an investor in Rivian iirc.
The shock is more that something he’s heavily invested in is as privacy-friendly as it appears, instead of immediately sending everything to AWS servers
Yeah, though that was basically a greenwashing of their Amazon delivery carbon footprint. It might help, but I see them broken down on the side of the road an awful lot.
Doesn't help that Amazon delivery drivers are beat down with deadlines which causes them to beat the hell out of those vans (if that's what you mean).
I haven't seen a Rivian truck or SUV broken down on the side of the road yet, just the van
Oh yeah, it’s easy to see that Amazon pushed throughput over anything else. Like every lower 1/3 body panel on those vans are damaged or missing in or area. Like the drivers don’t even get a 15 minute driving course before they send them out in those things.
No.
Check online forums focused on the car model you’re interested in. Often there’s a way to disable Internet connectivity on a car by disconnecting a fuse or antenna related to the cell connection. Keep in mind you won’t be able to use services like “OnStar” or unlock your doors remotely, or precool/heat the cabin without this connection.
The fact that these require an internet connection instead of a radio transmitter in a keyfob is crazy to me.
By "remotely", I think they mean outside the range of a key fob.
Take out the SIM cards and/or the fuses powering them.
Are you aware of any specific models where that is confirmed to work cleanly?
They’re not because there’s almost always a trade off or some additional something you have to buy.
https://www.slate.auto/en
https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/12/slate-auto-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-bezos-backed-ev-startup/
Yes, and?
That's mentioned at least one other time in this discussion, lol
There's not a single word about privacy in this article.
Mozilla removed a lot of their information, but it is still up on the internet archive, e.g. https://web.archive.org/web/20260728151622/https://www.mozillafoundation.org/en/privacynotincluded/toyota/
You gotta hire a mechanic to remove the mold.