[HN Gopher] Senator Sends Automakers Letter Criticizing Their No...
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       Senator Sends Automakers Letter Criticizing Their Nonexistent
       Privacy Standards
        
       Author : rntn
       Score  : 51 points
       Date   : 2023-12-07 15:15 UTC (7 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.techdirt.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.techdirt.com)
        
       | thfuran wrote:
       | Penning a letter is some nice posturing, but how about sponsoring
       | some legislation?
        
         | Mountain_Skies wrote:
         | Pushing an industry into self-regulation has long been a way
         | governments use to reduce regulatory burden and inflexibility
         | to change. Letting them know they had better solve a problem or
         | the government will solve it for them, probably in a way that's
         | worse for everyone, can push industries into action. Sometimes
         | it works, sometimes it does not.
        
           | henriquez wrote:
           | It also helps raise public awareness of the issue. Most
           | people have no idea how much info automakers are sucking up
           | about consumers. All the "connected" infotainment systems in
           | modern vehicles can phone home whenever and with whatever
           | data they want, and it's all implicitly allowed by arcane
           | provisions buried in the terms of service.
        
           | thfuran wrote:
           | The digital surveillance apparatus, of which this car
           | business is only a small corner, spans industries and sectors
           | and is valued at many tens of billions of dollars per year.
           | There's no chance that a senator sending a letter makes more
           | than a tiny and transient blip. There's a reason we have an
           | EPA and not just the occasional sternly worded letter about
           | too-flammable rivers.
        
         | didntknowya wrote:
         | they prefer to give industries the opportunity to increase
         | their political donations and let the issue slide rather than
         | take action to fix it.
        
       | SOLAR_FIELDS wrote:
       | I was surprised this didn't come from Wyden. Is this letter from
       | Markey indicative of a larger focus on privacy concerns from this
       | senator or is there some alternative reasoning/agenda behind
       | this?
        
         | blakesterz wrote:
         | When I saw this headline I thought "Why is it always only
         | Wyden" and then... it's not Wyden! I guess privacy is one of
         | Marky's things:                 "He is co-chair of the
         | Congressional Privacy Caucus (CPC) which aims to educate
         | members of Congress and staff on matters of individual privacy,
         | to provide a forum for the discussion of these issues and to
         | serve as legislative advocates for personal privacy."
         | 
         | The CPC: https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/the-
         | congre...
        
       | exabrial wrote:
       | Extends way beyond cars... but progress not perfection.
       | 
       | Shit needs to _only_ connect to the farking internet if it
       | _really really_ needs to. There is no reason a car needs to
       | connect to the internet. There is no reason a vaccuum needs to
       | connect to the internet. There is no reason a fridge, blender,
       | light switch, chair, crock pot, toaster, scale, camera, or
       | bajillion other devices need an internet connection. I hate to
       | introduce regulation, but Silicon Valley is dead set on providing
       | all the spy tools to the three letter agencies, under the guise
       | they think they can control them by "resisting". The only
       | solution is not not build these dumb capabilities in the first
       | place.
        
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       (page generated 2023-12-07 23:02 UTC)