Should you remove the SIM in your car?

What practical steps can we take today to improve the privacy of our cars?

Your car is not a private place. It’s like a rolling confessional booth, it tracks your location, and it takes video footage of everywhere you go. Some car companies even explicitly write into their terms of services that they’re allowed to collect data on your sexual activity. We’ve release 3 videos in our car privacy series so far, and I wanted to recap from this series some of the ways that data is transferred off vehicles, and what, if anything, people can do to mitigate this.

Should You Remove The SIM In Your Car?

Privacy Steps To Consider:

1. Avoid Connecting Your Phone: The modern car seamlessly ingests information from your phone — like your messages, photos, and contacts — and shares your information with 3^rd parties. On top of this, your phone ingests data from your car in return, through apps like android auto and through the OS itself. In this regard, the phone itself becomes a mechanism for sending data to 3^rd parties. Be aware that any time you connect your phone to a car, you’re likely sharing far more data than you realize.

2. Avoid Plugging in Devices: There are companies, like cell providers, that offer discounts to customers if they plug certain devices into the OBD or USB port of their car. These devices collect all kinds of data, and contain a SIM to send this data off to 3rd parties. It’s bought by all kinds of entities, such as data brokers and insurance companies. Sometimes insurance companies themselves will issue these devices — plugging them in allows the insurance company to monitor your driving, which can result in insurance premiums going up. Be careful of anything you connect to your car.

3. Remove the SIM Card: Modern cars contain SIM cards that send a large amount of data off your vehicle. You can remove the SIM, but it’s really difficult to find the SIM in most cars. You won’t find any official tutorials from car companies, and there are also very few user-created tutorials, so knowing how to do this for your exact make and model of car can be tough. On top of that, you might not want to remove the SIM because it will make a lot of features stop working — like radio, maps, etc. Removing the SIM also means you won’t receive any over-the-air updates, which is bad for your security. So although the SIM is responsible for sharing a lot of your data, be careful before deciding to remove yours, and make sure you understand what the effects will be for your specific car make and model. Talk to your dealership if unsure.

4. Disconnect WiFi and Bluetooth: WiFi isn’t a common way for data to be sent off the vehicle, but it’s still helpful to make sure that your car isn’t automatically connecting to networks. Also, turn off Bluetooth when not in use.

5. Understand Remote Features: Be wary of remote opt-in features that require continuous data tracking and sharing. Services such as emergency response are really useful, but make sure that you understand the privacy tradeoff with such services: They usually allow a 3^rd party to track you at all times, and share or sell this location data. Also understand that none of these car apps are end-to-end encrypted, which means that anything in your car that you can access remotely (such as cameras, microphones, maps, etc.) can also be accessed by the companies facilitating those app features.

General Tips:

1. Ask Questions: Let’s normalize conversations around privacy. When purchasing a car, we can ask questions about what kind of data the car collects. As well as considering factors like mileage and color, also consider privacy in when making decisions about your next car purchase. Your voice matters, especially if you’re spending 5 figures on a vehicle, so make your preferences known. This is how we change culture around car surveillance.

2. Choose Better Dealerships: Research by Privacy4Cars shows that less than one in 20 dealerships actually told consumers that cars are collecting data and that the manufacturer and other companies have the right to share and sell this data. Two thirds of dealerships actively denied that data collection actually happens. Some dealerships are better than others, and even include transparency icons on their websites to show you the kinds of data that each car collects. You can vote with your dollars by choosing a dealership that respects you as a customer — opt for one that makes sure you’re informed, and values your right to privacy.

3. Check Your Car and Opt-Out: Vehicleprivacyreport.com is a helpful website that will show you what kind of data your car collects, and help you opt out of some of this collection where possible.

Modern car surveillance is a nightmare, and I wish I had an easy solution for you like:
“Use brand XYZ Car because they’re great for privacy!”
or
“Toggle off the ‘Egregious Surveillance’ Setting!”

There is no easy fix, and the best thing we can currently do is stop being ok with the normalization of surveillance in cars, and be vocal about our preference for privacy. Apple responded to consumer demand for privacy by making privacy one of their key marketing pillars. Perhaps if we make enough noise, someone will see the market opportunity and release a “Privacy Car”. For now, let’s ask questions to stay informed, and make our voices heard.

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Yours in privacy,
Naomi

NBTV. Because Privacy Matters.