Technology

They should 100% be opt in. If I want to use GPS I’ll use my phone. I don’t know a single person that uses the one built into the car.

But obviously they want all that juicy data. It’s not enough that they charge insane rates on the vehicles themselves, they must also add microtransactions and track when we have sex, and with who too.

I would say depends. For company owned cars thats justified as it should purely meant for business trip only. For duel use vehicle, that there should absolutely have switch to turn it on or off.

The article is talking about lorry drivers making trips for work though. I am not sure I understand the need for the drivers to conceal their location while they work?

But otherwise I agree.

This article centers on those driving work vehicles that their employer has installed trackers on. I know recently auto makers have been found snooping, which I don't even have words for, but this isn't that.

The reason this needs to be illegal is because jamming the signal is not specific to you. You block your signal but you probably will also be blocking it for anyone else in the vicinity. Plus the way these things work they can create interference for other types of signals as well. It isn't the blocking itself that's illegal, but the interference that you're causing.

I'm no GPSjamologist, but if a jammer was running in your car, wouldn't the signal reach other nearby cars while in traffic or does it do it all within the confines of your automobile?

Active jamming is illegal but passive is not. You can block yourself but not others. FYI.

It's not just EVs - most new cars have these tracking devices where they sell your data to your insurance company to be used against you.

Just wait until your smart toilet can tell the insurance companies what chemical substances you've consumed so that the can raise your rates, deny your claims, or sell the info to your boss so the company can fire you with cause.

We already live in hell and there's no upper limit on the thermostat.

Let me preface this by saying I completely agree that there’s a conflict here, but it’s pretty much required in this day and age.

Let’s look at the current situation: Someone buys a tracker for under $100, sticks it to your car, and they can see you wherever you go. It’s scary, because they can know where you are at all times, and there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to figure out who did it.

Now an alternative where GPS trackers are illegal: Someone buys the generic parts for a GPS tracker, sticks it to your car, and they can see you wherever you go. But also legitimate uses for GPS trackers aren’t possible any longer. Say goodbye to things like tiles and air tags, hell maybe even GPS in your phone since you can get an android device with GPS for less than $100 and load it with software to do the tracking. At best you’ve prevented easy tracking with a huge detriment to the average user, at worst you’ve outlawed GPS tech entirely.

The final alternative is allowing jamming. I don’t have a nice story for this one, because the implications are far reaching. Is your jammer too strong? You’re interrupting other people’s GPS in a huge area, including things like navigation, child/pet/item tracking, time sensitive hardware could be using GPS as well, or things checking elevation. Not to mention, jammers can be used for nefarious purposes as well. Kidnapping a child and jamming a tracker on them, stealing a phone/wallet/keys and blocking its ability to report where it is.

There’s no perfect situation here, but the current state is the least harmful to the general population.

you make that comment, in a week where we have had a megacorp public assassination of a whistleblower and cypherpunk crypto money has risen to a record high value versus government money?

"There's only one nationality who would dare give us the raspberry! FINNS!"

Never fuck with the FCC (or relevant agency in your country)

Yes and there was an article few months ago telling that burglars now use wifi jammers to turn off wifi security cameras before breaking and entering. Those jammers are pretty much illegal as well but criminal do illegal stuff anyways...

That being said, how would blocking only the GPS help criminals in their criminal activities? I lack imagination I guess.

Until someone just sticks a transmitter on the outside of the wrap.

I think you could do it, but you'd need to spray some foam or something so the wrap cage isn't touching any metal of the car.

Might be easier to just put a cage around the transmitter.

I have never seen smb short for somebody, and spent far too long reading that as "shake my butt" in the same connotation as smh

It's illegal to spy on your workers through a camera in most EU countries. Why should GPS tracking be legal?