Comment by nessunodoro | Hacker News Reader

Comment by nessunodoro | Hacker News Reader

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Scummy is a polite word for the advertisements. It's been fascinating to watch them evolve in waves.

First wave: POV of a predator in a parking garage approaching a woman. Grave female voiceover: "Sexual predators could track your automobile, and remotely control the vehicle - including unlocking the doors." The female victim turns as the camera descends on her - she screams - "Vote No on Question 1. Don't let sexual predators control YOUR vehicle."

Second wave: Russian hackers with pimples nodding with pleasure as they take control of your vehicle, in a "Kremlin-sponsored hacking room" that looks like NCIS by way of Dr. Strangelove. Vote no - don't let Russian hackers control your vehicle.

Third wave - Muddy the waters by changing tone entirely to mimic the "Yes on 1" ads which have local, named individuals urging "it's your data, keep control of it." Muddied version - "It's your data, keep it safe. Vote no on 1."

Fourth wave - white unnamed men in auto shops with forced-sounding boston accents explaining that if you vote yes on 1, it'll hurt the little guy.

The insane $$ being thrown at trying to kill this bill [] tells a story in itself.

[] https://ballotpedia.org/Massachusetts_Question_1,_%22Right_t...

Over $23 million paid by automakers funded these scummy advertisements. Thankfully we know this from campaign finance transparency. The ads say in fine print that they are paid for by the "Coalition for Safe and Secure Data" and that top donors include "the Alliance for Automotive Innovation."

A Coalition campaign finance report from 2020 [0] shows $23 million in receipts from the likes of Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, and others.

Expenditures in that report show who is helping them produce these ads.

[0] https://www.ocpf.us/Reports/DisplayReport?menuHidden=true&id...

Do these reports really matter? Did they change your mind about the issue, or shape your opinion in any way other than fueling your previous view?

I hear many people support these sorts of rules, but nobody seems to really benefit from them.

Which reports? Reports that require disclosure of political advertising spend?

Yes. They're incredibly important. I want to know who is paying to try to influence an election. Many times, actionable information is exposed through these reports.

Are you going to sell your car or buy a different make of car because of information contained in these reports specifically?

It’s interesting that the German automakers have only given a relatively small amount compared to the others.

AIUI the German solution is to make their cars so difficult to repair and maintain, and require so many specialised tools, that nobody who isn't an authorised dealership will want to touch them.

It's interesting that there's no norm against participating in this kind of gross dishonesty. Everyone is comfortable that political speech is just a set of things you say to win the argument, and need bear no relation to any real or plausible events.

I think that it's not that there is no norms, it's that there's no point in having norms. These attack ads are conducted by proxies, not the interested parties themselves. It takes more energy to go after them then it takes for the interested parties to make a new proxy.

Ha, as if auto manufacturers all have an org dedicated to monitoring and deterring sexual predators and Russian hackers. Can anyone from one of these companies comment on this? Can I get a discount if I opt out of that at the dealership? I'm a techie, really I'd prefer to install Windows Defender on the car myself, thank you!

It wouldn’t be so laughable if the auto manufacturers didn’t already claim your data as their own and sell it to marketers.

This tidbit from the Onstar privacy policy made me laugh:

“The nature of our products and services means that there may be circumstances where you might let someone else use a product or service that we provide to you (for example, you let someone else drive your OnStar equipped vehicle). It is important that if you do let someone else use one of our products or services that you inform them of this Privacy Statement and of the privacy choices that you have made.“

Do you have links to these videos? They sound hilarious.

Con side

https://safeandsecuredata.org/

(They have a youtube)

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCGB8blHHwEhHILzENXb1_9g

This is the fear spot shown:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NYp2_oiwtIg

Pro side

https://massrighttorepair.org/

They have a youtube Channel too (which is Massachusetts in a nutshell):

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCYOxd_3siXOYMrUvdJQDMOA

They pulled the former police commissioner to rebut some of the fear in a second ad. And this animated one with strong local accents

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pYmViMg5fQI

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