Mozilla review of 25 car brands finds they're "a privacy nightmare"

dantheclamman@lemmy.world to Technology@lemmy.world – 1803 points –
It’s Official: Cars Are Terrible at Privacy and Security
foundation.mozilla.org

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Guess I’m driving my 2010 Honda Accord and burns oil and leaks steering fluid a few more years.

Should probably get the steering thing fixed.

I believe that the 2012 Honda Accord V6 we had was near the height of automobiles.

Quit laughing.

It had excellent power - 270 HP. It was comfortable and reasonably fun to drive. It had modern safety features like air bags. It didn't have any of the nanny driver crap that drives me nuts in the car that replaced it. It got decent mileage for a heavy V6 - on trips we'd see around 32 mpg, 25 mpg around town, day-to-day driving, in part because of the cylinder deactivation when cruising. Damn thing likely would have run forever if it hadn't been wrecked - at 8 years old and 100,000 miles, we had zero plans to replace it. And at that point, aside from regular maintenance, I think we had replaced the driveshafts and one lug stud that had broken (which was likely the result of someone overtightening it at some point, not a failure at the manufacturer).

I never thought I'd say this about an Accord, but: Damn, I really miss that car. A lot.

Maybe a 2013 to get the better styling and improved infotainment system; the 2012 was not a looker, and it didn't have things like music over Bluetooth, and the DVD-based nav system was dated when the car was new. But it ran and ran and ran, and I never had to worry about that car.

Since then, cars have become less powerful in a bid to offset inefficient SUVs and still meet CAFE, and they have those irritating driver nanny features with alarms blaring as the system misinterprets the situation and thinks you're about to crash into something. God, I hate the car that replaced that Accord. And pretty much all cars have those damn "features" now, so even if I turn them off, I gotta pay for them and carry them around all the time.

That era was apparently the sweet spot where you could buy a modern, comfortable, powerful, efficient sedan and still have fun driving it.

My car is "dumb smart", having some features like Bluetooth but nothing like Android Go or whatever other internet functionality in it. It's like the end of the era of cars that have CD players and AUX ports, no Sirius, the only connectivity it really has is playing audio through my phone.

Toyota Corolla 2016, I'm very happy with it. I'm approaching 130k and I'm sure it'll go over 300 if it's well taken care of.

i am holding on to my 2006 dumb hunk of metal..no spyware..also solid body instead of those new cars with body made of thin aluminium..or the alternative which would be an impotent electric smartphone on 4 wheels

Yeah! Fuck the environment when your car wants to track which apps you use on it!

*Edit: Lol you guys would be hilarious if the climate situation wasn’t so dire.

Is it better for the environment to drive an old car?

In conclusion, buying a used car may avoid the carbon emissions of manufacturing a new one – but you should also bear in mind the lower fuel economy, higher exhaust emissions, and ongoing maintenance requirements.

So no, it’s not always better to just drive a leaky piece of shit forever instead of upgrading. The car you’re buying has already been made, it’s carbon been produced, and now you’re generating less emissions with the newer more efficient vehicle. This is pretty simple stuff to keep in mind next time you want to act smug about smog.

The car you’re buying has already been made, it’s carbon been produced, and now you’re generating less emissions with the newer more efficient vehicle

Actually, no. If millions of cars are sold it doesn't mean that all of them immediately popped in existence, materials brought, wages paid and emissions produced. They do them in batches and scale production based on demand. One person not buying a car might not make a dent, but a thousand will. So, while the carbon emissions of that car you see at a dealer's has already produced, by buying it you're giving manufacturer the funds to produce the next one, effectively the same as if you've enabled the carbon emissions of that car in the first place.

I bet you it’s more environmentally friendly to keep driving a car you already have as opposed to getting a new one even if it’s “cleaner.”

Depends on how much cleaner and how much you drive.

See my edit, there is a cut-off point. And if your old car is already burning oil (a contributor to climate change) and leaking fluids (terrible for the ground water and environment) then you may have hit that point dawg.

You’re right it’s possible, but I’m still not sure if it outweighs the emissions to create a new car. Ideally we would have widely available public transit and we could do away with cars for the most part. That’s what we really need to solve climate change, not drive cleaner cars.

Lol and the only reason "that car is already made" is because car companies can bank on people thinking like you are. If people like you didn't exist they would pull back a bit on the production of new cars.

That’s not true at all but go off then.

Why would they continue making the same amount of cars if less people are buying cars? Go on then explain, this should be good.

You gonna help the low income individuals buy a new car?

When was that ever posited?

The statement was from a person who was going to upgrade his bad for the environment car for a newer, and thus better for the environment car, but decided against it because he’d rather burn oil and contribute to the downfall of the planet than give over his information that he’s already sharing from his phone anyways.

Majority of emissions come from a handful of companies. Stop. Blaming. Individual. Citizens.

By buying a new car, the car companies continue to invest to build more new cars... Just because it is made now doesn't mean a new one has to be made to take its place... SMH

Your inflammatory tone aside, I do understand the impact of my car environmentally, and I have the privilege of being able to take public transportation for a lot of my work and university trips. But unfortunately I do need to use my car sometimes.

I bet I’m still making less of a carbon footprint from my car than someone who drives a newer car everyday though.

I imagine my “tone” would be better if we weren’t already facing catastrophic global sea level rises, bigger and stronger and longer hurricanes, intense droughts and heatwaves that persist for weeks, wildfires six times the size of normal, global temperature increases, more tropical diseases moving north….but hey, I guess I should just be nicer to people that think it’s okay and would rather be a contributing factor to all that than be tracked by their car less than their phone!

And most of that comes from private jet usage or large corporate manufacturing. But yes, go off on some random university student on Lemmy because -checks notes- I drive an old car.

Collectively, cars and trucks account for nearly one-fifth of all US emissions, emitting around 24 pounds of carbon dioxide and other global-warming gases for every gallon of gas.

Oh shit, well if it’s only 20% we shouldn’t even think about it then! Blame-less Blame-less Blame-less! Woo!

Cool stat, I don’t live in the US. Sounds like Americans have more to answer for than I do in regards to car emissions. By your own (uncited) quote, taking every car off the road would still leave 80% of polluters operating. I wonder how many of those are related to some sort of corporate entity.

I already said that I take personal responsibility and take public transportation unless I absolutely cannot, but you don’t care because you just like being angry, so whatever. How much exactly are you doing to stop carbon emissions?

You know that meme where people say “eat the rich” and then target doctors and artists who charge $200 commissions instead of billionaires? That’s you rn.

I was hoping you’d mention globally!

https://imgur.com/a/88aWuMD

Ouch. That didn’t work out so hot for ya did it?

Lmao this is so funny, now send the breakdown of by country.

I got you.

My country isn’t even in the top 10.

You can do it yourself here my dude. I’m guessing you’ll give it a try whenever you reach that goal post you keep moving, so likely never lmao.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1185535/transport-carbon-dioxide-emissions-breakdown/#:~:text=The%20global%20transportation%20sector%20is,percent%20of%20global%20transportation%20emissions.

Oh btw, speaking of moving goalposts

By your own (uncited) quote, taking every car off the road would still leave 80% of polluters operating. I wonder how many of those are related to some sort of corporate entity.

You never did answer this.

What goalpost? I literally said I use public transport, but go off. I’m done, I actually have to take the subway to my work now. Enjoy arguing on the internet!

The one where first it didn’t matter because it came from private jets and then it didn’t matter because it was from America and finally it didn’t matter that it was global?

Even though it was specifically car emissions contributing that we were discussing the entire time.

But hey ignorance is bliss my friend!

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Privacy is very important to a lot of people. It doesn't seem like it is to you, but to some of us it really is a reason why a new car is simply unacceptable to us.

There is no reason they couldn't make newer vehicles that are eco friendly without the data collection. Just because you are willing to trade your privacy for marginal emissions gains doesn't mean everyone is.

And I say marginal, because many older vehicles could easily be maintained at a much lower cost than a new vehicle is. And an older vehicle, well maintained, can easily get very close or better than modern vehicles emissions, excluding EVs.

It isn't the age of the car that's the issue so much as maintenance and size. Sedans and coupes are far more ecological than trucks and SUVs.

Anger isn't going to fix anything. We need to come together and not be divided further.

It’s going to take both of those things combined to overcome the natural instinct for human apathy. People overwhelmingly don’t give a fuck until something affects them.

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A new car lasts for about 6 years, needs upkeep like an old car, and has little if any resale value. You then buy a new car, using more materials many that are plastic and cannot be recycled. Even a electric car is not green, the batteries alone are a mess, not really recyclable and made of non-renewable resources. New cars are not meant to be re-used and repaired they are disposable like everything else in our society. What we should have as an environmental goal should be a dynamic public transportation, right to repair, and end our disposable ways.

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