And this is not the first time I've heard this. Eg mobile phones. Then everyone else does it and you can't exist in the world without it unless you pay a huge penalty. No smartphone is really tough to pull off nowadays so all the "it's a device whose purpose is to spy on you" is still just as true but the boat sailed, possibly without your uncoerced consent.
Maybe not this time? Maybe people will hold out? Maybe we won't get locked in by everyone else?
It won't, because 'cloud'-smart home is a total gimmick.
You get better service by getting local first smart services (ZigBee etc), and even that is barely worth it.
It's neat and a fun toy, but ultimately not going to ever see widespread use beyond enthusiast bubbles. I did get my home fully automated though wrt heating/lighting, but it's more akin to a hobby then the value you get from a phone.
Especially if you work for them. And even more so if you are not a member of a trade union that will (help) protect you from your employer.
It only takes one mistake, one corporate screwup or one misunderstanding/vindicative asshole and hey, your means of getting to work at a reasonable time is gone. That's too much of a risk to take.
* I don't currently use a car, but that's simply because the town I'm in is very walkable.
- Cops actually have to care about the justice system in some way, so won't usually take the car if it's not connected to a crime
- Because of the above, there is at least theoretically a way to get it back via the legal system
- They have to physically go and get the car
- The car still physically works even if there's a court order/arrest warrant/whatever.
With a company where you might 'rent' the car on the other hand:
- There's no justice system aspect, and they can refuse service for any (non) reason. That could be anything from "we don't like you much" (perhaps because you exposed their CEO's dodgy behaviour or acted as a whistleblower) to "having you as a customer is a PR nightmare" (person on social media claimed you said/did something inappropriate) to "computer says no" (technical glitch, system downtime, etc).
- Getting it back requires either enough social media outrage (like with Google account problems) or a costly lawsuit
- They could either stop the car from working via remote means like disabling the account needed to login, or blacklist your address from the system so their vehicles don't stop there
- If there's a problem, you're fubar. At best you can hack or jailbreak the system to get it working, at worst you have no vehicle at all
It's not like you're in any more control vs. cops without a car at your disposal, it's just a tool. But you bet your ass the more automated cars become, the more options cops (and the state in general) will have to remotely take control of their operation.
But cops can just as effectively be a problem for pedestrians, cyclists, riders of public transportation... Some of my worst police interactions have been on public transportation. They seem particularly keyed up and predisposed to assume you're poverty scum committing a crime in that context IME (BART police).