Almost 100%
The radios are used to push software updates and I think you can turn on emergency onstar/onstar-equivalent for a lot of vehicles. You are mostly paying to use the radio yourself and to cover additional data overheads.
Comment on ‘Modern cars are a privacy nightmare,’ the worst Mozilla’s seen
Infinitenonblondes@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Does the car still send data if you don’t subscribe to the data service? Because my car has lte, and for the life of me I can’t figure out why I would ever need my car to supply data when I already have a phone, that does hotspot and has a faster connection.
Puzzle_Sluts_4Ever@lemmy.world 9 months ago
atrielienz@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Depends on the car but I’d hazard that yes it does. If it has a data connection according to some others in this thread and on other posts, they turn it on regardless of whether or not you subscribe for services. So for instance you still can get Sirius XM ads and so on if you have Sirius satellite radio installed as part of your cars package. If they can send you ads chances are they want to know if they’re effective and they want to better target those ads. Easy to do when they monitor which radio stations you have programmed and which ones you listen to most etc.
TacoButtPlug@sh.itjust.works 9 months ago
Following this cause that was my question too
Rozz@lemmy.sdf.org 9 months ago
Not everyone has an unlimited data plan, and also other devices might be in the car to watch things or play games.
Infinitenonblondes@lemmy.world 9 months ago
But why would pay to get data in the car vs upgrading your current plan and using the hotspot function?
Rozz@lemmy.sdf.org 9 months ago
I wouldn’t, but maybe some people don’t want their kids hooked to their phone, or guests in their car.
I’m too cheap to be their target audience.
Bitrot@lemmy.sdf.org 9 months ago
Mozilla has a separate article about how data is collected.
There is a very good chance it is collecting and sending data even if you aren’t subscribing to the services. The modem is there, GPS is there, sensors are there, and someone will pay for information about you. It’s a no brainer for them.
DrMango@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Well so these articles say how data is collected and where it might be going, but they don’t say much about that intermediate step of how the data is being sent if I’m not connecting my vehicle to a network or to the auto maker’s app unless I missed that.
I’m curious to know how my data would be offloaded if I don’t use the app and the car doesn’t have a data connection. I’m sure the dealership will get a data dump whne they hook up the OBD cable for maintenance, but other than that how does the data leave the vehicle?
Bitrot@lemmy.sdf.org 9 months ago
If the car doesn’t have any data connection at all then it probably isn’t (mine is in the same boat), but that is fewer and fewer cars these days. That is different than the situation where the car does have the option for some sort of connected telematics but a person does not subscribe to it. They are still likely being used behind the scenes even if the owner doesn’t touch them.