5 ms·

I just bought a ford taurus. It immediately connects my cell phone to my car and I sorta get the feeling like the cops that sit on the eway have access to the c

I just bought a ford taurus. It immediately connects my cell phone to my car and I sorta get the feeling like the cops that sit on the eway have access to the computer in my car and also the cell phone connected to that computer. But hey thats just my paranoia. On another note, it was very clear checking off do not track in the vehicle. The only reason they say they want to track is for data like the exec gives the example for, traffic analysis etc. not like daily tracking. But it is creepy and really I dont know if all the benefits balance out the potential drawbacks. There is also this notification in the myfordsync system that is "911 Assist".. now this is a fine option, but literally the car will remind you everytime you start it that it is off and unless you select otherwise, it won't just alert you, but will give you the option to turn it on.

CrazedGeek 13y ago
You can turn the Assist notification off under Settings somewhere (under Phone, maybe?), for what it's worth.
- rickdale 13y ago
  That option will turn off the ability to turn on 911 assist upon starting the car. I haven't been able to turn off the pop-up notification that comes up for a second that says "911 Assist Off".. as soon as I hit reverse the backup cam takes over the screen and I don't see it again, but clearly someone wants you using it.
  - evacuationdrill 13y ago
    I think they're just covering their asses with that warning.
sentenza 13y ago
Relax. You don't have to stress yourself out about these things, since you soon won't have much of a choice anyway. The day will come when you can't get car insurance without active tracking. It is just too tempting for insurance companies to reduce their claim investigation overhead/cost with that technology. Of course, strong privacy protection laws could keep this from happening. Yeah.
- Uchikoma 13y ago
  That!
- crusso 13y ago
  Well, once autonomously driving vehicles come along, they'll obey the law without many exceptions.
  - jrs235 13y ago
    Which will drastically cut into many municipalities revenue. How will they replace that revenue?
    - crusso 13y ago
      Ideally, they would just cut back their operations... probably they'll just raise taxes or start charging more user fees for other things.
    - alexeisadeski3 13y ago
      Fire traffic cops.
- maxerickson 13y ago
  Why would they refuse to take more money from people that are unwilling to use the trackers? I can see a far future where the only people who want to refuse the trackers are reckless or awful drivers, but I can't imagine an insurance company refusing to write a contract with a driver that has a reasonable history.
deveac 13y ago
>On another note, it was very clear checking off do not track in the vehicle. I cannot see it remaining this way. It is just a matter of time before the OEMs buckle and sell your data to an enterprising third party in exchange for the ability to lower costs. The auto supply chain is notorious for being a bloodbath of cost-cutting. It's a perfect cultural fit. Not saying that you won't retain the option to turn off tracking as these systems become more widespread, but it's just an illegible TOS away from being opt-in by default with a buried opt-out.
- mkr-hn 13y ago
  Someone will write a guide to disabling it within a day.
  - deveac 13y ago
    And .00001% of car buyers will learn of this guide. An even smaller number of them will actually use it.
  - geekfactor 13y ago
    And law enforcement will use your having disabled it to justify a presumption of guilt.
    - maxerickson 13y ago
      Like how when you refuse to speak to the police and ask for a lawyer, they cancel your trial and put you right in a cell. (I'm sure someone can list lots of abuses of this process; the point is that they are still looked at as abuses)
  - teddyh 13y ago
    Well, at least the breaking of DRM will go a bit more mainstream.
- joelrunyon 13y ago
  > It is just a matter of time before the OEMs buckle and sell your data to an enterprising third party in exchange for the ability to lower costs. Is anyone else getting sick of this trend? Especially with stuff that you pay full-price for. I can understand why gmail / facebook / etc do it - but for other traditional models to jump in on it seems like they're all too eager to destroy any traditional transactions.
jellicle 13y ago
> On another note, it was very clear checking off do not track in the vehicle. That checkbox doesn't, and can't, mean anything. You don't get to opt out of law enforcement requesting a second-by-second stream of your location data, and neither does Ford.
avn2109 13y ago
Developed capacity equals intent, as they say in our government.
jlgaddis 13y ago
> On another note, it was very clear checking off do not track in the vehicle. The only reason they say they want to track is for data like the exec gives the example for, traffic analysis etc. not like daily tracking. That reminds me of how phone calls to most companies are recorded nowadays. "This call may be recorded for quality control purposes." No one thinks twice about that but, while the "official" reason for recording it might be "for quality control purposes", that doesn't mean they can't or won't use it for any purpose they want. Those calls are being recorded to cover their ass in case of disagreement or dispute.
- alphydan 13y ago
  > Those calls are being recorded to cover their ass in case of disagreement or dispute. Actually, it usually means that an algorithm is listening in the conversation (see for ex. http://www.callminer.com/products/eurekalive/ http://www.callminer.com/products/eurekalive/ ), and learning from your voice tone, use of words, grammar choice, etc ... to know what kind of personality you have and put you through the right agent or give them clues on how to most quickly and efficiently help you (or get rid of you)
salient 13y ago
I feel this is obligatory: https://www.aclu.org/meet-jack-or-what-government-could-do-all-location-data https://www.aclu.org/meet-jack-or-what-government-could-do-a... Also, if you think them knowing your location like this is scary, wait until we have self-driving cars, that will have built-in kill switches in them or some kind of remote control, you know, for "updates". Getting rid of people (journalists especially - Michael Hastings anyone?) in "accidents" will never be easier.
brudgers 13y ago
Why would the police bother with your car's GPS when your cell phone firehoses location data and oh so much more?
- greenyoda 13y ago
  Because I can easily turn off my cell phone when I don't want to be tracked (e.g., if I'm on my way to rob a bank), but my car's GPS may be impossible to disable.

CrazedGeek 13y ago

You can turn the Assist notification off under Settings somewhere (under Phone, maybe?), for what it's worth.

rickdale 13y ago
That option will turn off the ability to turn on 911 assist upon starting the car. I haven't been able to turn off the pop-up notification that comes up for a second that says "911 Assist Off".. as soon as I hit reverse the backup cam takes over the screen and I don't see it again, but clearly someone wants you using it.
- evacuationdrill 13y ago
  I think they're just covering their asses with that warning.

sentenza 13y ago

Relax. You don't have to stress yourself out about these things, since you soon won't have much of a choice anyway. The day will come when you can't get car insurance without active tracking. It is just too tempting for insurance companies to reduce their claim investigation overhead/cost with that technology. Of course, strong privacy protection laws could keep this from happening. Yeah.

Uchikoma 13y ago
That!
crusso 13y ago
Well, once autonomously driving vehicles come along, they'll obey the law without many exceptions.
- jrs235 13y ago
  Which will drastically cut into many municipalities revenue. How will they replace that revenue?
  - crusso 13y ago
    Ideally, they would just cut back their operations... probably they'll just raise taxes or start charging more user fees for other things.
  - alexeisadeski3 13y ago
    Fire traffic cops.
maxerickson 13y ago
Why would they refuse to take more money from people that are unwilling to use the trackers? I can see a far future where the only people who want to refuse the trackers are reckless or awful drivers, but I can't imagine an insurance company refusing to write a contract with a driver that has a reasonable history.

deveac 13y ago

>On another note, it was very clear checking off do not track in the vehicle. I cannot see it remaining this way. It is just a matter of time before the OEMs buckle and sell your data to an enterprising third party in exchange for the ability to lower costs. The auto supply chain is notorious for being a bloodbath of cost-cutting. It's a perfect cultural fit. Not saying that you won't retain the option to turn off tracking as these systems become more widespread, but it's just an illegible TOS away from being opt-in by default with a buried opt-out.

mkr-hn 13y ago
Someone will write a guide to disabling it within a day.
- deveac 13y ago
  And .00001% of car buyers will learn of this guide. An even smaller number of them will actually use it.
- geekfactor 13y ago
  And law enforcement will use your having disabled it to justify a presumption of guilt.
  - maxerickson 13y ago
    Like how when you refuse to speak to the police and ask for a lawyer, they cancel your trial and put you right in a cell. (I'm sure someone can list lots of abuses of this process; the point is that they are still looked at as abuses)
- teddyh 13y ago
  Well, at least the breaking of DRM will go a bit more mainstream.
joelrunyon 13y ago
> It is just a matter of time before the OEMs buckle and sell your data to an enterprising third party in exchange for the ability to lower costs. Is anyone else getting sick of this trend? Especially with stuff that you pay full-price for. I can understand why gmail / facebook / etc do it - but for other traditional models to jump in on it seems like they're all too eager to destroy any traditional transactions.

jellicle 13y ago

> On another note, it was very clear checking off do not track in the vehicle. That checkbox doesn't, and can't, mean anything. You don't get to opt out of law enforcement requesting a second-by-second stream of your location data, and neither does Ford.

avn2109 13y ago

Developed capacity equals intent, as they say in our government.

jlgaddis 13y ago

> On another note, it was very clear checking off do not track in the vehicle. The only reason they say they want to track is for data like the exec gives the example for, traffic analysis etc. not like daily tracking. That reminds me of how phone calls to most companies are recorded nowadays. "This call may be recorded for quality control purposes." No one thinks twice about that but, while the "official" reason for recording it might be "for quality control purposes", that doesn't mean they can't or won't use it for any purpose they want. Those calls are being recorded to cover their ass in case of disagreement or dispute.

alphydan 13y ago
> Those calls are being recorded to cover their ass in case of disagreement or dispute. Actually, it usually means that an algorithm is listening in the conversation (see for ex. http://www.callminer.com/products/eurekalive/ http://www.callminer.com/products/eurekalive/ ), and learning from your voice tone, use of words, grammar choice, etc ... to know what kind of personality you have and put you through the right agent or give them clues on how to most quickly and efficiently help you (or get rid of you)

salient 13y ago

I feel this is obligatory: https://www.aclu.org/meet-jack-or-what-government-could-do-all-location-data https://www.aclu.org/meet-jack-or-what-government-could-do-a... Also, if you think them knowing your location like this is scary, wait until we have self-driving cars, that will have built-in kill switches in them or some kind of remote control, you know, for "updates". Getting rid of people (journalists especially - Michael Hastings anyone?) in "accidents" will never be easier.

brudgers 13y ago

Why would the police bother with your car's GPS when your cell phone firehoses location data and oh so much more?

greenyoda 13y ago
Because I can easily turn off my cell phone when I don't want to be tracked (e.g., if I'm on my way to rob a bank), but my car's GPS may be impossible to disable.