IT Guy

The End of Automotive Privacy: How Cars Have Become Surveillance Devices Starting in July 2026, new rules in the European Union will require all new cars to have advanced interior monitoring systems. The Advanced Driver Distraction Warning (ADDW) rules mean cars will use high-resolution cameras and computer vision to track your eyes, head, and posture in real time to spot distraction or drowsiness. While these changes aim to make roads safer, they also turn your car’s interior into a place where a lot of personal data is collected. The Modern Vehicle is A Computer on Wheels Even before the 2026 rules take effect, today’s vehicles already gather huge amounts of information. Built-in cameras and microphones record video and audio, which can be accessed by car makers, service providers, or even through government requests. Cars also track your location using built-in SIM cards and cell towers, recording exactly where you go and how you drive. Sensors log details like when doors are opened, passenger weight, and even biometric data. This information is often sent to data brokers and insurance companies, sometimes without strong encryption, which raises the risk of someone accessing it without permission. Now let's about the Clone Trap: Why You Should Think Twice Before Syncing Connecting your smartphone to your car with Bluetooth, Android Auto, or Apple CarPlay can create a big privacy risk. The car often copies a lot of your digital information, such as: - Data Scraping: Your contacts, text messages, call logs, photos, and even a list of your phone’s apps are often saved directly onto the car’s system. - Bi-directional Data Exchange: As the car collects your data, your phone might also gather information from the car’s systems and send it to companies like Google or Apple, adding to the personal data they already have about you. - Persistent Storage: This data is often sent from your car to the manufacturer’s cloud servers, where it can be kept for an unknown amount of time and is no longer under your control. To reduce these risks, treat your car’s infotainment system as carefully as you would a public computer. Here are some ways to protect your information during changes: Selling Your Car: Always do a factory data reset before you sell your car. Manually delete any stored GPS history and phone data from the infotainment system. Tools like Privacy for Cars can help you with the steps for your car model. Buying a Used Car: Just owning the car doesn’t mean you control its data. Previous owners might still have remote access through apps. To fix this, download the official app from the manufacturer, make your own account, and connect it to the car’s VIN to remove any old links. The Rental Risk: Renting a car can put your data at risk. Try not to sync your phone if you can avoid it. If you have to connect, make sure to delete your device and clear the cache before you return the car, so others can’t access your information. If you care about privacy, you might want to swap out the factory infotainment system for one that doesn’t send data to the manufacturer. Another option is to use a separate navigation device that doesn’t store your personal information.

Appreciate the mention.

@elormkdaniel Appreciate the mention.

IT Guy 😭😭

@Plushplaxicuss Haha 😅🙏🏾

@T3chFalcon Don't fully understand what you said but I am intrigued and instantly following now

The SIM card still connects to cell towers and logs your IMSI. The main privacy advantage comes from keeping the hardware separate. When you use a hotspot, the cellular network sees the hotspot’s IMEI, not your phone’s. This means your smartphone is not directly recognized by the towers. By turning on Airplane Mode and using Wi-Fi, all your phone’s traffic goes through the hotspot. This lets you set up a VPN or Tor at the hardware level. Also, phones gather a lot of tracking data using GPS, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. A hotspot, on the other hand, only works as a modem. This setup keeps the device that identifies you, your phone, separate from the device that connects to the network, the hotspot.

@johntroony ?

@T3chFalcon What's this?

@SAP127001 Yh, right.

@T3chFalcon Important clarification, using a phone as a hotspot with a VPN connection does not use that VPN for other devices that connect to it. The device you’re using must have a separate VPN.

@T3chFalcon What if I use another phone as a hotspot?

In DSM, every transaction is strictly between two parties, with no global state and no broadcasting. This setup means my privacy with a counterparty depends only on how private they are. In Monero, I blend in with thousands of other users through ring signatures. However, if my DSM counterparty is a Sybil node or a state actor, they know exactly who I am and what happened. How does DSM offer plausible deniability or crowd-level anonymity without using a shared ledger? Or is the model designed to provide 'privacy by absence of data' instead of 'privacy by blending into a crowd'?

@talesoftao Thank you. You nailed it down surgically and with precision.

Funny how pople say "privacy is a myth" until someone wants their phone passcode or bank login. Suddenly, privacy matters a lot. 😂

CYBERSECURITY 2026 ROADMAP: FOR ASPIRING PROFESSIONALS If I had to restart my cybersecurity journey today, this is EXACTLY how I’d do it (based on what’s actually worked for me): [A thread 🧵]

@GemsAristocrat 🙏

@T3chFalcon Nice read! Followed 🤝

How Your SIM Card Threatens Your Privacy Your SIM card does more than just connect your phone. It quietly keeps a record of your daily activities, almost like a diary. It logs the neighborhoods you visit, your late-night outings, and the events you attend. Unfortunately, your phone’s settings can’t prevent this tracking. Your SIM constantly communicates with multiple cell towers to maintain a signal. Each time it connects, your unique ID (IMSI) is recorded, building a detailed map of where you go. VPNs and encrypted apps can’t block this kind of tracking. Jsyk.. Your phone actually has three computers inside, not just one. The first is the Application Processor (iOS or Android), which is the only part you can actually control. The second is the Baseband Processor. This hidden chip manages your phone’s communications and runs its own software, which you can’t see or change. The third is the SIM card itself. It’s actually a small computer with its own operating system and can run commands on its own. Some SIM cards can send texts, start data connections, or share your location without your phone’s main system telling you. These hidden messages use special encryption and aren’t saved anywhere you can see them. Also, a VPN does not protect everything on your phone. On iOS and Android, most app traffic goes through the VPN, but some system services might not, depending on how your device and network are set up. Also, parts of your phone like the Baseband Processor and SIM card work outside the VPN, managing network signals and carrier communication directly. This does not mean all your data is exposed, but it does mean a VPN cannot fully protect everything your device does. Some privacy experts, such as Naomi Brockwell(@naomibrockwell ), have stopped using SIM cards in their phones. Their method is simple. - They keep their phones on Airplane Mode and only connect to Wi-Fi. - They use a separate mobile hotspot for the SIM card instead. - This keeps your cellular identity separate from your browsing and messaging. Anyways, If you’re in the U.S., the Calyx Institute offers privacy-respecting mobile hotspots with unlimited data through a non-profit model. While they don’t rely on ad tracking like large telecom companies, the service still depends on carrier infrastructure, so it’s more privacy-conscious. You can delete apps and block trackers, but the SIM card operates at a level you can’t control. The first step is being aware of this. You can’t avoid a surveillance system if you don’t know it exists.

@horoshi192021 That’s a lot of Cuneiform just to say "I don't know" 😂😂

@T3chFalcon 𒀀𒉌𒂗 𒀭𒌍𒆪 𒂗 𒀭𒂗𒆪 𒀭𒂗𒆪𒀭 𒀭𒂗

@presearchnews Great job Folks. 👍🏾

@T3chFalcon your SIM card has been logging your location the whole time and you can't turn it off 🙂 fix what you can. Presearch at least keeps your searches out of it. 🔍

@EmmaEmmanu89170 🙏

@T3chFalcon We keep learning everyday. Thank you for this awareness