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How To Opt Out Of Your Car’s Surveillance State (Before It’s Too Late)
(www.carsandhorsepower.com)
Just don’t buy a new car. Simple as.
this post was submitted on 28 Jun 2026
173 points (94.4% liked)
Fuck Cars
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That's not going to be a choice forever though. Even the best maintained cars eventually fail.
Can't you get older car rebuilt into electric? Seems like it could give it some more years. Correct me if I am wrong tho, I am not great at cars lol
Sure, but IIRC, there's a federal law requiring certain devices to be included in a new car. That probably doesn't include a rebuild, but it could if that becomes a popular enough option to avoid it. It's also usually quite expensive.
Would hope for EU to not have these laws, but I feel like that would be too much hope
The EU seems to being going full steam on destroying privacy too, so I wouldn't bet on it.
Unfortunately yeah... I believe they are talking about reviving Chat Control 1.0 today... Once again
The institution can propose the unpopular policy more times than a population unable or unwilling to alter the institution can smack it down.
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Yeah and even if someone is just making barebones frames for kit builds, I think there are legal limits on the number of kit cars that a single shop can do in a year. But those are corporate protectionist laws that we should probably get rid of.
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Some companies do offer this for a quite hefty price.
Heftier than a new car?
I looked at it at one point (quite a while back) and yes, it was more than a new car usually. It alone was about the price of a new car, like $30k IIRC (again, many years ago I think pre-covid even). You also need to include the car, so add a few thousand, or more depending on the car.
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Can’t you get older car rebuilt into electric?
For $50,000 ...then you get an old car no one can fix.
Not quite that much in most cases, but yes a good electric conversion is always in the 5 digits. My old Ranger would be $20K in today's dollars to full convert, if done professionally and correctly. And there's enough rust problems with a frame from the early 90s that you question if something like that is worth it in the long run.
My 2010 Honda is trucking along but I wanted to upgrade to a hybrid... Fat chance of that happening.
Now I'll ride this one until it dies.
So will I. I hope to time it just right.
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Physically disconnecting the broadband antenna is always a solid option too
For as long as they let you. Watch, soon they'll be required to connect to the network at least every 30 days to function.
so you splice a switch into the antenna wire.
They can't require connectivity or all cars would stop in tunnels.
You make switching RF sound easier than it is, but this is quite possibly the solution.
That or taking the train, but those have their own problems (including not being available in all places).
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Don't buy it
I'll make the guess our next reply is "what if it's every car!?"
It won't be. Buy ~~used~~ proven.
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This article may be at least partially ai written - this paragraph under number 7 in particular is quite suspicious:
"For extra paranoia, some owners store their entire car in a Faraday garage or use signal-blocking paint—extreme, but effective."
I can maybe see a garage, but ruining your paint? Where do you get this paint, how much does it cost, do you “do it right” by properly prepping and masking, how do you maintain this finish, and do you truly not care about resale value?
I’m sure somebody has done this somewhere, but I can’t imagine it looks better than matte-black rattlecanned shitbox. Nobody really wants to be driving around in that.
You paint the garage, you cucumber.
Hey, they aren't a cucumber, they are a car.
The antenna is under the shark fin and can be unplugged from under the roof liner.
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Got a 1987 Pontiac Firebird.
But all my t-shirts have sleeves.
Just don't buy a car.
It is very funny that this article seems to be under the impression that opting out does anything at all.
Oooooo, maybe now they don't save your data under your legal ID directly. One time connection with your phone and they know your fingerprint that is already linked with an identity lol.
Opt-out is the biggest lie in the tech world.
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Wanna get rich? Make a metal cover for auto shark fins.
Cover these and no one is getting data.
Don't know about getting rich with that. Most car owners don't really care. Surprise.
That's what marketing does. Create demand. Get Youtube makeup influencers to tell their audience cars track your body weight through the airbag sensor.
If an older internal combustion engine car with only a dashboard radio is not an option, then a bicycle.
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