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OEMs aren't just connecting cars for the fun of it; the idea is to actually improve their customers' experience with the cars. But right now, we're still missing an actual killer app—and to be honest, data on how many customers renew those cell contracts for their vehicles. A survey out this week from Solace that polled 1,500 connected car owners found that they still don't really trust the technology.
[...] But the bit of Solace's survey I found most interesting was the widespread ignorance regarding data collection. Only 38 percent of connected car drivers knew that their cars could store personally identifiable information [PII] about them, with 48 percent unaware this was the case. And that's important because that PII is being viewed as a goldmine.
[...] "[The fuel companies] want to offer you more than fuel," [Ben] Volkow said. "Many times, the fuel stations are also interested in anonymized data—why do some people always stop, do they take whatever's available or a specific brand, places to build new stations, and so on."
What's more, unlike selling cars, selling data is a high-margin business—between 80- and 90-percent profit. "A big part of the investment is already done," he said. "The databases are built, SIMs and modems are in the cars; they've crossed the Rubicon."
[...] Volkow thinks that drivers will be happy to share this data, as long as they get some value out of it, like free servicing or micropayments per mile traveled. But he also thinks consumer education is vital. "People tend to be more demanding when it comes to cars; they don't think of them as the same as mobile devices. You have to convince them there's a benefit," he told me.
Source: ArsTechnica
(Score: 2) by stretch611 on Saturday February 24 2018, @07:20AM (5 children)
AFAIK, the easiest way is to just remove the fuse that powers it. On GM/Onstar it used to be on a separate fuse from everything else making this easy to do by popping one fuse and not affecting anything else. Your owner's manual should have the list of fuses in your car with their affected systems... or search the net for the information.
Personally, I currently have a car that I bought new with a lifetime powertrain warranty. No spybox, no GPS. I don't plan on replacing it if I can avoid it.
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 3, Insightful) by anubi on Saturday February 24 2018, @08:35AM (4 children)
Incidentally, speaking of fuse boxes, if you are in a position where you have to abandon your car for a few days in a questionable area ( say, the parking lot at the airport ), removing the fuse for your fuel pump and powertrain control module will greatly frustrate a thief that just wants to hotwire and drive off.
Your car will be dead until it gets its fuses back, and most thieves don't want to attract a lot of attention to themselves trying to troubleshoot to find out just what you did. To me even sneaker, put known blown fuses back into position, so the empty slot does not attract attention.
Your car will need to be towed. Which brings most thieves more attention than they want to attract.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday February 24 2018, @10:46AM
I need to add... on some cars, the powertrain control module may be sensitive to loss of power. On mine, it is not, but yours may be. If you have one that is sensitive to power loss, best not pull that one.. you may have to rely on fuel pump alone.
Even then, the car won't start.. just crank, crank, crank.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 4, Funny) by Grishnakh on Saturday February 24 2018, @02:30PM
You don't have to worry about your car getting stolen at the airport. Your car can sit there for many months with your corpse inside [nypost.com] and no one will notice. It can even sit there for many years [kplr11.com].
(Score: 2, Interesting) by toddestan on Sunday February 25 2018, @05:03PM (1 child)
For most any newer car, the thieves know they can't just hotwire it and drive off thanks to the built-in security. Often bringing in a tow truck, hooking up the car, and driving off with it in tow is the plan. So long as they act like they are supposed to be there picking up the car, they know they generally won't get questioned about it. Once they have the car back an their shop, they can troubleshoot it at their leisure, assuming they even care before chopping the car up for parts.
However, what you say does work well for older cars - especially if the car looks like it may not always start anyway. And it also works against the newer method of illegitimately obtaining copies of the real vehicle key, hoping in, and driving off with it. So it can't really hurt to pull out the fuses.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Monday February 26 2018, @08:15AM
Interesting... I wonder about leaving the steering turned all the way to the left or right, and locked into position so as to make lifting the rear and towing quite difficult.
I have been warned about towing my van by lifting the front and dragging, as the transmission fluid pumps are driven from the engine side of the transmission, and without the torque converter being driven, none of the hydraulics on the transmission will work - because the transmission fluid line pressure pump is not being driven. This places the transmission in such a state that towing will completely ruin the transmission.
I do not know if this is true for all automatic transmissions. Its just what I read on the truck forums regarding my Ford E4OD transmission. They tell me if I need to be towed, make sure the guy lifts the rear end and drags the front, not the other way around, or puts it on a flatbed, which for me, is a pretty darned big flatbed.
I can't stop a determined thief, but maybe I can make it frustrating enough that the thief will take his business to someone else. All I really know to do is booby-trap the thing so as to make it very frustrating... like programming it to shut down when it sees vehicle speed go to zero. And refuse to start back up. Intended to make him the center of attention at the traffic snarl in the intersection.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]