Post #1296305

2026-02-19 19:47 UTC

Depends entirely on your car make and model. On many models you can disconnect or remove the fuse for the telematics control unit (TCU) and it's as simple as that. However you won't receive any OTA updates that will likely solve problems. And if you reconnect to get them, there's no guarantee your car doesn't suddenly dump all your personal data obtained in the meantime onto company servers. Further I find it more and more likely that OEMs either already have or will add a ToS that requires you to keep all this stuff connected, and they'll argue that the data collection is part of the sale. Slate seems to be the only brand currently that intends to deliver vehicles with zero connectivity required.

Replies (4)

@FineCoatMummy@sh.itjust.works 2026-02-19 20:19

> Slate seems to be the only brand currently that intends to deliver vehicles with zero connectivity required. Do you mean [these guys](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slate_Auto)? That's the first I heard of them so thank you for that! I thought it would turn out to be a European make, but they're on my side of the pond. A zero-connectivity electric car would be the dream. I like the idea of electric cars but so far they have all been even more wrapped up in telematics than internal combustion cars.

Open ##1296326
@peacefulpixel@lemmy.world 2026-02-19 20:57

Jeff Bezos is a named investor of Slate, so i wouldn't trust it

Open ##1296327
@FineCoatMummy@sh.itjust.works 2026-02-19 20:10

> And if you reconnect to get them, there’s no guarantee your car doesn’t suddenly dump all your personal data obtained in the meantime onto company servers. It's a good point. Also I wonder if [OBD-II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On-board_diagnostics#OBD-II) can do that. A person could disable the port, but that may make it hard / impossible to get the vehicle serviced.

Open ##1296328
@Dequei@piefed.social 2026-02-19 20:06

There is a private mode in my Kia Ev3, but yeah, It disables almost everything.

Open ##1296329