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How to get a private car (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) by HumanPerson@sh.itjust.works to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

Hello internet users. Someone in my family is looking to buy a car and wanted some recommendations for a private one. They are looking to buy new, and need Android Auto and CarPlay. I know all new cars suck for privacy by default, but I was hoping someone here could offer some insight as to which cars can be made better and what cars offer the best experience with minimal compromises on privacy and no subscription bs. I also have a Home Assistant instance that they can access remotely if there are any cars that can work well with that.

Edit: Android auto and CarPlay aren't as important as I thought.

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[-] BearOfaTime@lemm.ee 29 points 5 months ago

Unlikely to find a new car without a calling home function.

Definitely not one with car play.

Best you can do is find the cell antenna port and put an RF sink on it (they're used for testing radio output).

[-] HumanPerson@sh.itjust.works 10 points 5 months ago

Tell me more about this rf sink

[-] potatopotato@sh.itjust.works 5 points 5 months ago

The technical term is "dummy load", most antennas are around 50ohm "impedance" which in an incredibly roundabout way means the antenna is indistinguishable from a 50ohm resistor at whatever frequency it's tuned to....which means you can replace the antenna with a 50ohm resistor.

This all assumes you care about leaving the radio functional (radio amplifiers will burn up if they can't dissipate the energy they're creating) and in most cases it's probably fine to just cut the trace as close to the source chip as possible. That said, if the system is especially evil and well engineered it'll throw errors in some cases so better to leave everything functional but unable to hear or transmit.

[-] joewilliams007@kbin.melroy.org 16 points 5 months ago

Just buy a used car. Look for low KM and good climate rating.

Why care for privacy when in the end your using android auto or apple play?

And a home assistant breaks the point even further.

[-] huginn@feddit.it 13 points 5 months ago

Not a home assistant. Home Assistant™, the open source privacy focused home automation system.

[-] HumanPerson@sh.itjust.works 4 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

As I said, it is for a family member. I agree about buying used.

I think android auto can be reasonably private with Graphene OS's implementation.

I don't know what you are saying about Home Assistant.

Edit: Home Assistant

[-] joewilliams007@kbin.melroy.org 3 points 5 months ago

sorry. Didnt know what home assistant was.

[-] fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago

Cars have been doing this for over 20 years at this point. Buying used won't help unless you go really old.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OnStar

[-] Akasazh@feddit.nl 1 points 5 months ago

I bought a 2015 Dacia. It's just smart enough that it let's you connect a device through Bluetooth, however it's not smart in any other way. It's barely got kilometers (sub 1k) and will last me a while.

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[-] Emma_Gold_Man@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 points 5 months ago

Sorry, but I have bad news for you. Privacy in major car brands no longer exists.

You don't say where your family member lives, but you might look into smaller regional brands that focus on cheap cars for less overdeveloped areas of the world. Be aware the tradeoff is probably in safety features.

[-] fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago

There are things you can do though.

GM for example you cannot remove OnStar from their vehicles. But with my Subaru removing the starlink module was a ~20 minute procedure. You'll need an aftermarket harness in order to maintain the front speakers.

[-] RichSPK@lemux.minnix.dev 13 points 5 months ago

What country are you in? Apparently, all carmakers are really bad about privacy right now, but Renault seems to be the best of the bunch: https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/articles/its-official-cars-are-the-worst-product-category-we-have-ever-reviewed-for-privacy/t

[-] stratosfear@lemmy.sdf.org 11 points 5 months ago

Your link is bad (accidentally added t at the end), here is a working one.

https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/articles/its-official-cars-are-the-worst-product-category-we-have-ever-reviewed-for-privacy/

And, holy fucking shit, I had no idea it was this bad. Thank goodness my car was built in 1987.

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[-] Darkassassin07@lemmy.ca 10 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Android Auto and CarPlay or Privacy. You won't get both.

Your use of 'need' is quite a stretch.

[-] FeelzGoodMan420@eviltoast.org 4 points 5 months ago

You could always simply not use android auto or carplay? Surely that would be a start.

[-] spaphy@lemmy.ml 9 points 5 months ago

When you go just ask if there's cars or models without the car itself having a SIM card but that still has carplay. People love to drum this stuff up but they still make dumb cars. There's usually like 3 variations maybe 4 of each model. Go lower on the model to get less features but still the right amount of them.

[-] ErwinLottemann@feddit.de 8 points 5 months ago

in the eu all newer models are required to be able to call emergency services in case of a crash and share the location of the vehicle. so no newer cars in the eu without an integrated sim card.

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[-] PeachMan@lemmy.world 8 points 5 months ago

I don't have a great answer to your question, but you might be able to find a relatively cheap car that isn't "smart" and doesn't have a touchscreen or anything. Do they make those anymore? Then, you could add an aftermarket stereo receiver to it, like some of the options in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t1GdI9UsEI

Yes, that's still a "smart" stereo but it's NOT connected to any of the car manufacturer's metrics or systems, right? So the separation makes it seem more privacy-friendly to me. I could be thinking about this incorrectly, but it seems logical to me. There might be some stereo receivers that are more private than others, but you'd have to do your own research for that.

[-] PipedLinkBot@feddit.rocks 3 points 5 months ago

Here is an alternative Piped link(s):

https://www.piped.video/watch?v=4t1GdI9UsEI

Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

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[-] HumanPerson@sh.itjust.works 3 points 5 months ago

Do you know of new cars that don't have all the smart nonsense?

[-] PeachMan@lemmy.world 4 points 5 months ago

Damn, I'm looking around and don't see any, even the cheapest Toyotas and Kias have a big touchscreen with Android and CarPlay. I'm not sure what happens if you take that out and replace it with an aftermarket receiver, but it appears to be possible because Crutchfield sells receivers for a 2024 Corolla: https://www.crutchfield.com/g_473950/Digital-Multimedia-Video-Receivers.html

I'm also seeing people online saying that there are cars made for businesses that still come with no "smart" features. But I have no clue how you would buy one of those, I doubt they have them at dealerships: https://www.reddit.com/r/whatcarshouldIbuy/comments/124n5qw/what_cars_less_than_5_years_old_are_recommended/

Or, you could just get a used car, save some money, and check all the low-tech boxes.

[-] Mok98@feddit.it 1 points 5 months ago

I think the mitsubishi space star could be an answer, base model doesn't have a smart anything, but it might not be available where you are

[-] kbal@fedia.io 5 points 5 months ago

They are looking to buy new, and need Android Auto and CarPlay

I was active on an automotive forum around the time when that sort of thing started to be seen as a "need" by car salesmen and some of their more enthusiastic customers. The big new thing was "infotainment" and it seemed like the whole industry was insisting we'd all soon see how essential this stuff was. I was disdainful of the idea then, and have only become more so. Cars should have an AM/FM radio receiver, and aside from lights and a horn that's all they need for communications.

That's not the answer you're looking for, but it seems reasonably on-topic here. If you must get a new car, the easiest route to having it not spy on you as much as it can all the time is to make sure it doesn't have a SIM card (or remove the one it does have) and never connect your phone to it in any way except perhaps via a 3.5mm audio jack.

[-] fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.world 4 points 5 months ago

I don't understand why everyone seems to be latching on to carplay and android auto in this thread as if it's the car stealing your data. All carplay and android auto do is take a video feed from your phone an display it on the car's screen. You still have the privacy issues, but it's not the car doing anything, they're the same as if you had a dumb car and google maps up on your phone in a phone mount.

[-] d00phy@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago

Most are missing the point. You’re right, running AA or CP is akin to just using your phone with a vent mount, albeit arguably safer. The privacy issues come with things like OnStar and similar services that connect back to the manufacturer. As someone already pointed out it doesn’t sound like there’s a way to remove OnStar, but some others might be removeable, or not available in cheaper models.

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[-] hitmyspot@aussie.zone 3 points 5 months ago

Bluetooth connection is a must too, but it doesn't need to access my contacts. Just as a music player or headset.

[-] LoveSausage@lemmy.ml 4 points 5 months ago

Would love some info on where all this shit is located in the car. Someone should make a database of the different cars and how to block shit

[-] maynarkh@feddit.nl 4 points 5 months ago

I'm just leaving a comment here because if there is a positive answer to this, I also want to know. I think we're just hosed as far as cars go.

[-] HumanPerson@sh.itjust.works 5 points 5 months ago

Doesn't Lemmy let you save posts or is that just my client?

[-] maynarkh@feddit.nl 7 points 5 months ago

Well, I'm one of today's lucky 10000 I guess. Thanks!

[-] LoveSausage@lemmy.ml 4 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Dacia, least bad one. Made a dedicated phone for the car without personal info as well. Rooted calyx OS , microG, organic maps and spottube. No simcard and VPN on WiFi. Not sure how much is still leaked but a lot better at least.

[-] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 3 points 5 months ago

Find a old car that doesn't have a lot of miles. Its not the best deal but it will work.

[-] trippingonthewire@lemmy.ml 2 points 5 months ago

Couldn't you ask the guys at the dealership to remove the router and such from the car? Say you don't want internet. If so, I'd say that's the best you'd get in terms of new cars.

[-] rekabis@lemmy.ca 1 points 4 months ago

A lot of vehicles prior to 2005 will not have a black box that records everything (and for which you will not have the encryption key for), nor will it phone home in any capacity.

Pretty much 100% of vehicles prior to 1995 will definitely lack these features.

If you want a vehicle that you control 100%, get a vintage vehicle.

[-] invertedspear@lemm.ee 1 points 5 months ago

If you want an actual dumb car that’s reliable, I don’t think anything beats a TJ series Jeep wrangler. Not good gas mileage, but the I6 engine in them is fantastic and it’s still relatively easy to get parts for them despite being 20 years old. You can add an after market head unit for CarPlay out android auto.

If you really do go new, you can disable the cellular radio. It’ll cost you a lot of convenience features, and you won’t get updates. But no cell radio, no ability for it to give your data to the mothership.

[-] dan1101@lemm.ee 1 points 5 months ago

The average salesman will act like they know but they don't. About the only choice for a private vehicle is going to be an older vehicle. New ones are getting less private and larger and more expensive. Go with an older but we'll cared for Honda or Toyota.

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this post was submitted on 28 Jan 2024
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