Comment by stavros
3 months ago
I have a BYD Seal and this was as simple as removing the SIM (it's in the armrest compartment and just pops out).
3 months ago
I have a BYD Seal and this was as simple as removing the SIM (it's in the armrest compartment and just pops out).
On some cars you can also unplug whatever radio/modem doodad is responsible for phoning home. I have a Ford Maverick and disconnected the "telemetry module" which resides under the transmission hump by the front passenger seat.
I no longer receive updates to the infotainment system and I can't unlock the doors with my phone, but I also don't have the dealer emailing me service ads with my exact current mileage and tire pressure.
This is how it should be if the user prefers not to be connected.
How does this interact with the EU "eCall" mandate? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECall
(one of those things I've seen very little discussion of, the WP page correctly points out that this mandates a mobile-station in every car; although it does not precisely mandate that it be always-on, in practice it will be in order to manage messaging promptly)
Since eCall uses 112 infrastructure, it does not need subscriber identity, as the call will be accepted by any network in range.
This is no longer reliably the case, because the carrier is legally required to provide a minimum set of information about the caller (its location) to the emergency services, which many cannot fulfill if the call was made without a SIM.
In the past they handled the call without that information, but after an incident in 2013 the court ruled that the requirements also must be fulfilled without a SIM (0).
So some carriers (notably all German ones) stopped accepting Emergency calls without SIM, first to not be in violation of the law but nowadays apparently due to "misuse" (?) (1).
(0) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CEL...
(1) https://www.heise.de/en/background/112-Emergency-Call-Day-No...
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Isn't the network still tracking you via the modem's IMEI in that case?
Phones can call 112 without a SIM, so it might work, though I haven't tried it.
I thought this was removed due to abuse taking place with such phones
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I mean, even back in the OnStar days, you could "opt out" and cancel the service and it would track you anyway. With BYD or any other car maker, I'd be worried the SIM was a placebo.
This is where things like a HackRF or flipper zero are useful - leave a scan running over 24 hours from multiple fixed locations within the vehicle and you can detect if there are any wireless transmissions, and then triangulate on exactly where they come from using several pieces of yarn cut to the length of estimated distance from the source.
Cars should be independent, local only devices. Having cloud dependencies is just reckless and stupid.
Anyone know of reviewers that do this for cars? I just don't see privacy focused reviews on basically anything. We have reviews about how reparable things are and how good/bad the features are but rarely do I see privacy mentioned or in-depth analysis of TOS and the like to give buyers a sense of how good/bad cars and other devices are. Does everyone just assume it is terrible and go on or is there some reason this isn't a top level item for journalists to evaluate?
Can this be done without picking up the myriad of SIMs that pass near your car? How would you know which of them is your ghost SIM?
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Flipper Zero can't see cell signals.
What would the car maker gain from adding a decoy sim?
analytics. same thing anyone that collects data gets. how they use it might be different. most use it to monetize the data. some might actually use it to improve things. because some do use for making money, those that do for actual improving will always be deemed suspect
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How far of a jump is it from the buses in Norway with hidden remote access to "decoy sim"? It might not even be a decoy -- it might just be the sim for the "user facing" telematic/infotainment, and there's another, non-optional one.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45824658
What did GM gain from lying about turning off On-Star?
The only reason a decoy sim is going a bit far to believe, is because it wouldn't actually work. It wouldn't actually fool anyone and would just look bad when the first reviewer pointed it out a year before the car is even available for sale. If it weren't for that, we already have countless example proofs that a company will do literally anything if it will work merely 1% more than whatever it costs. Including car makers obfuscating and even flat out lying about their various connections.
What do they get out of it? data & control, same as ever.
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