Calafornia Road Charge Options

[technicalninja]

A car can be "connected" without the permission of the owner.

If you can receive ANYTHING at all via text about the car, it IS connected.

More common is a black box data recorder that holds the last XXX seconds/minutes of data before an "event" such as airbag deployment. This can be a TINY module that is incorporated in something else. It can be "invisible" and not show up on any factory information/wire harnesses.

I'm pretty good at finding crap like this but I WOULD NOT bet I could find them all!

I know enough about modern computer networks that I'm SURE the manufactures have multiple ways of "connecting" to your car without your consent.

I believe this type of monitoring is un-ethical and should be illegal.

It makes your fully "purchased" item break the 5th amendment IMO.

Lease it or rent it, I'm OK with monitoring.

Buying it should make it yours ALONE!

@Montreal914 if you take your modern cell phone with you, you're "monitored" anyway. I'd bet there is not a really good way of verifing if the car itself can do the monitoring. A GPS is a MAJOR red flag IMO but I might be wrong.

@Superhawk996 you have anything to add?
I'd like your opinion on "how to tell if your car is a backstabbing tattletale".

[Superhawk996]

@Superhawk996 you have anything to add?
I'd like your opinion on "how to tell if your car is a backstabbing tattletale".

I’m watching this thread with interest but trying really hard to stay out of it because almost any thing I add will get it locked. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy11.gif)

Event data recorders (EDR’s) are real and have existed in pretty high numbers since the mid 2000’s. They are mostly used to protect OEM’s from litigation but of course, they have been used against the owner of the vehicle in a court of law when it suits the powers that be. NHTSA is pushing OEMs to use data recorders and since 2022 is looking to increase the duration of data gathered, and to increase the data sampling frequency.

https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/10...ation%20(NHTSA).

Here is a relatively comprehensive list of whether or not your car has an EDR gathering data.

https://www.collision-recon.com/wp-content/...hicles-List.pdf

On-Star came out in late 90’s. In same vain as EDR’s, On-Star was able to monitor the cabin via microphone, detect a crash, send help based on GPS location. On-Star in car audio has been provided to the police and used against the vehicle owners.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster...sh=6796c9bb2ef8

If your car has any sort of SOS - send help feature you can assume it is connected. Some of the older 3G modems are no longer capable of service (since 2022 IIRC) but several OEMs offered 4G modem upgrades to keep the vehicles connected.

In the case of older cars, the EDR data had to be obtained via hardwire connection to the OBD port. In the case of cars equipped with a modem, you might as well assume that the data can be obtained wirelessly.

The only way to know for sure is to monitor the modem, or disable the modem.

For what it’s worth, my newest car is a 2012 with a 3G modem that is no longer in service. I assume the FEDs could access a 3G modem if they really wanted to. Personally I refuse to own any car newer than this one given how connectivity and the scope of the data collected has only expanded exponentially since the 2010’s.

So bottom line and relevant to this thread; easy to obtain your mileage data, location, and driving style on any new car or EV.