All 25 car brands we researched earned our *Privacy Not Included warning label – making cars the worst category of products that we have ever reviewed
What’s so difficult about this vs. say your personal computer is that I am a lot more comfortable tinkering with privacy tools on my computer, in which the worst case scenario is sites won’t load/the tools are imperfect, than I am with my car, which would be an expensive bricking experience or potentially a lethal one. So even those of us who are so inclined can’t really safely take the situation into our own hands.
The good news is that the cheapest, most environmentally friendly and most privacy respecting cars one can find are all the same category - used ones. You also have decent safety in a decade old car these days.
The bad news is of course that car manufacturers are countering this the only way they know how - by producing products that don’t last for shit. But at least if you buy an old one you can make a more informed decision, as other people have years of experience already.
yeah like I could put hondahack in my car’s head unit pretty easily but 1) I’m worried that it might change the tuning of my engine and 2) it would void any warranty I have on the car I have left - totally agreed with having the ability but not willing to take the risk
Yet another reason to continue using public transport and my ebike rather than buy a car. I realize not everyone has the means to do this, but if you do, then it’s the better option.
Ebikes are also on the same path
I know a lot of people define it as a necessity, but I feel that it’s a life choice too.
I’d rather sacrifice a lot of other things (eg. rejecting one job vs another) if I can keep using alternatives to private cars.I would love to have the privilege of living in a nice and relatively big family house in the suburbs, but I’d rather live in a small cramped apartment farther away from some of my siblings if that means having better transport options without needing to purchase and maintain a car.
I wonder, if everyone had similar preferences, whether the world would adapt to actually make public transport (or alternatively, home office / delivery) as widespread of a commodity as having roads for private vehicles.
Cars might be the worst product category, full stop. They should reintroduce Truckasauruses to the wild so we can have walkable cities again. (Like when Yellowstone reintroduced wolves and everything got better.)