sv3noKin51E

The movies, Minority Report, Enemy of the State and others come to mind. The powers that be have pushed all of these changes for many years; remember cash for clunkers? It was a plan not merely to get vehicles blowing oil out the tailpipe off the road, but the amount of chips and CPUs in cars increased dramatically after the Millennium. We have a 2006, 2007 (limited number of CPUs) and a 2012 model which has 3 times the amount of automated, anti-human vehicular system controls. We don't play the state 'authorized franchise dealer' game, and will never again purchase any sort of vehicle newer than what we have. All non-computer parts for the cars are in extremely short supply, and there's a critical shortage of qualified mechanics that can be trained to utilize the factory mandated computers/software. Chips are just one angle in this phantom menace; the NADA personal property tax scheme is present in many states now, where assessors have to tax what the lobbying agency for the dealers says your car is worth, if they buy or sell it. A couple radicals in our conservative state guv't tried to sneak a law into being last year which prohibit owners from working/servicing their own cars, which thankfully went out the window. Several states have bought into this mandate of forced vehicle software upgrades, which the law enables car manufacturers to charge the owners mandatory subscription fees; you either pay or the car won't run. A Federal law passed recently, mandates that in the near future, 'someone' will be monitoring your car's data in real time, meaning, if 'they' think you've swerved once too often in a certain time interval, 'they' can shut your vehicle down and pronto. If the swerve was to avoid a head-on collision, or a deer traipsing across the road, too bad, you're penalized, guilty and done, no trial, no reports to file. A federal senator that sponsored/voted yes, denied that the law contained any onerous sections, so another senator had to enlighten her with a printout of that clause. Obviously, our 'servants of the people' aren't troubled with having to change their own tires or oil and are clueless about how the peasants have to try to get by. In all police/surveillance states, that's how it's done. Oh my; surely that's only done in films, and not present in the land of the 'free'. G'day mates:)

les spencer

That's why I'm keeping my 2011 Lexus 350

Ioannis

My insurance company is been spying on me. A little box attachment on my car windshield sends my driving habits to the company and some how they adjust my monthly payments. There is no more privacy in our lives.

flathead27ford Loc: Colorado, North of Greeley

Very interesting Jerry! Thanks for the info. I did not know all of this.

steinr98

I see a lot of "car" spying listed here- heck- with AI and what is going on in our world, you cannot pick your nose without a camera recording just what U are doing!! Eventually, the Govt. will have all of our info listed. There will be nothing to hide- very scary situation for all of us! AI may change our very lives!!

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

And there's a reason for that.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I do that, too, up to a point. When I find that I'm being "pushed" more than 5 mph over the speed limit, I slow down to the speed limit, but that doesn't always work. Then, I start looking for a place to pull off the road. We had a fatal shooting of two brothers over a tailgating incident several years ago. Lots of people carry guns, and lots of people are close to being crazy.

Robertl594 Loc: Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and Nantucket

Big brother is watching! Knowledge is power.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

And we are powerless.

bobbyjohn Loc: Dallas, TX

Merge all that scary info gathered about you with the notion of "Minority Report." You may recall "Minority Report" as the movie where the authorities can arrest you BEFORE you commit the crime. In the car world, such would be implemented as disabling your car BEFORE you drive drunk or erratically, BEFORE you get annoyed to the point of Road Rage, etc.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Yeah, that sounded too unpleasant to watch.

petercbrandt Loc: New York City, Manhattan

Probably your computer does the same as long as you are connected to the web, how about your streaming movies TV ! No more privacy ! Facial Recognition for front door cameras (if they improve definition)....it goes on and on !

GeneV Loc: Lampasas, Texas

Hey SK, I love your comment. It's not too difficult to believe some idiot will get thirsty and try.

Gene

GeneV Loc: Lampasas, Texas

Have you ever tried to replace the battery in your cell phone? They sure don't want you to. They want you to buy a new one. Speaking from experience.

Nigel7 Loc: Worcestershire. UK.

Jerry not all is bad about this technology. I attach a link to a story where this telematics information helped to bring a murderer to court in Wales, UK. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-51466273

My car has this tech. One of the benefits is that should I have a serious accident my car will immediately send a report to the police with my precise GPS co-ordinates. Sadly, again in Wales, 4 teenage lads died last weekend when their car went off the road in atrocious weather conditions landing upside down partly submerged in water. They were not found until two days later when they were already dead. Had they been in a more modern higher tech car perhaps the outcome might have been different.

I guess that, unless we have something to hide, the benefits of the tech can outweigh any reservations based on privacy.