Rule number one of buying a new car: get the dealer to disconnect the modem.
Cars should be entirely open source by government regulation. All software should be public and the manufacturer should be required to host and maintain a public toolchain that can reproduce the software and any revisions made. All of this should also get mirrored by the library of Congress and made publicly available as a second source indefinitely. This is about ownership. Digital rights are never okay to reserve. If I do not own everything I am only renting from the real owner. Proprietary goods are theft of ownership. It really is that simple.
I’m glad that requesting dealerships disconnect modems is a thing, I was thinking I may have to McGuyver a solution like de-solder the antenna myself! I’m not in the marker for a new car yet but I may be soon, who knows.
Ironically, you cannot find out if your car is affected unless you’re willing to share your VIN with the helpful folks at privacy4cars.com
So, since I don’t own a model specifically listed in the story and I value my privacy …
If you do want to check your car more anonymously, make up numbers for the last 6 digits. The first 11 contain all the make/model/options info, the last 6 digits are unique to each vehicle.
That’s why I’ll probably drive older cars the rest of my life.
