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Internet enabled cars were never a good idea. I dread the day I have to give up my mid-00s Honda and replace it with something new, since everything seems loaded with phone-home spyware and killswitches now.

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I have a VW from 2019. I think it's the last generation to only have Bluetooth connectivity. Still, every time I talk to an official VW employee they ask me to install their app and update the car firmware, so they can spy on me. I politely refuse.

I'm sure we'll figure out the regulation sooner or later, but for now it looks like things will get worse before they get better.

Could they bundle it with some safety recall so it's a mandatory update (or else warranty void, insurance says you're at fault, etc)?

Yeah, it’s becoming more and more obvious that keeping a vehicle SOMEWHERE that doesn’t connect to the internet is going to be important in the future - even if it’s just a bike or motorcycle or M32A2.

A ton of recent, modern, safe, efficient, and reliable cars lost internet connectivity in the last year.

https://www.toyota.com/audio-multimedia/support/3g-faq/

https://www.subaru.com/support/3g-network-retirement.html

Etc.

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