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jamilbk 4 hours ago

I remember yanking out the onstar unit in my 2015 silverado to physically disconnect the cell antenna. This was (is?) the only practical way to disable cellular in that vehicle.

Kudos to Rivian for making this a supported user privacy feature.

cj 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

As someone who got into a rollover accident which ended with my car upside down on a freeway, hearing only the onstar person talking to me while half conscious, this is sad.

I do distinctely remember strongly disliking the user agreement I signed for the "internet connected" features of the car when I bought it. 100% rubbed me the wrong way and I couldn't' find a way to opt out, and I wasn't so motivated to physically remove it from my new car. Thankfully.

Shouldn't have to trade privacy for safety.

karlgkk 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

> As someone who got into a rollover accident which ended with my car upside down on a freeway, hearing only the onstar person talking to me while half conscious, this is sad.

My phone does this now. Most phones do it now.

xp84 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Maybe in theory, but I trust Apple to detect a crash correctly about as far as I can throw my iPhone without breaking its glass back or front.

This is the company whose flagship voice assistant, in 2026, can’t tell the intended recipient in a sentence like “Text Bob Mary signed the deal.” And if my phone happens to be thrown into the back of the car by the crash, I doubt anyone will be able to hear me.

Not to mention that OnStar has operators who talk to first responders. the cell phone thing will just call 911 and hope for the best.

I pay for OnStar, and think it’s worth it.

martin_a 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Lol, same thing for Android, too. It has full access to my contact list, but if I tell it to "Call Stephan Beier" I see the transcript for "Beyer" and then it fails. That sounds the same in German, now what shall I do. Stupid thing.

FireBeyond 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> This is the company whose flagship voice assistant, in 2026, can’t tell the intended recipient in a sentence like “Text Bob Mary signed the deal.” And if my phone happens to be thrown into the back of the car by the crash, I doubt anyone will be able to hear me.

You can be using CarPlay to navigate at that moment to a destination, and because of the way my fiancee has Siri set up, if she says "Get me directions to the nearest Starbucks", Siri will say, "I'm sorry, I don't know where you are."

booi 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

sorry, I didn't find someone named "bob mary" in your contacts list

xp84 35 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

Yup! Or it starts a group text with Bob AND Mary saying “signed the deal”

warkdarrior 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

"I found this on the web. Check it out."

Barbing 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Stress test your mounts!

reaperducer 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

My phone does this now. Most phones do it now.

Only if it hasn't been crushed, damaged, or otherwise flung out of the vehicle that crashed so violently that it's actually upside down, as noted in the original comment.

nancyminusone 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

>Shouldn't have to trade privacy for safety.

You shouldn't have to, and yet...

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/01/...

dlenski 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> Kudos to Rivian for making this a supported user privacy feature.

Same. This is the first thing that I've ever read that makes me think I might be willing to buy a modern vehicle.

Brian_K_White 36 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Similar I got a new 2025 4runner last summer and...

A: never once installed the app or registered an account, which flummoxxed the salesman so much he argued with me for 10 minutes trying to say that I had to set up the app to even take delivery, even though I paid cash in full. He even cried to mama (the manager) to find out what to do about this impossible situation. In the end, of course you do not actually need to install the app, even temporarily just for a one-time setup, or even register an account. But MAN do they want you to.

B: Within a few weeks found that someone makes a kit that lets you completely disconnect the telemetry & internet functionality module while providing some pass-through connections that normally go through that box.

Apparently in this case all the bad stuff is conveniently in one box you can disconnect, and still have normal bluetooth for android auto, apple car play, or plain bluetooth headset & media. So still have gps & media on the console stcreen. I can only assume that this won't stay so convenient. They could have anything require anything else any time they want.

They do offer an official way to disable all internet features (remote start from your phone from any distance, remote vehicle monitor, tracking/shutdown, etc), but all that does is disable the useful functions for you, while not disabling any of the functions they use for themselves. It's still actively logging and uploading data, and they still have the ability to remotely track and even disable the vehicle.

I've been to the dealer (different from purchase) once for a free oil change and they didn't say anything. So idk if they even tried to do any updates, or they have some other way to do it or what.

https://www.autoharnesshouse.com/store/AHH-DCM77

nullc 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

They've fixed that in later models, disconnecting the module disables the dash now.

But don't worry, the FTC is out to protect you. Their settlement with GM says that can only sell your name attached to zipcode resolution location data and only sell your precise location trace attached to an opaque ID rather than your name.