> For the EU that ship has sailed as there is a mandatory automatic emergency call capability for every new car.
I'm willing to bet there are militaries and state intel agencies in the EU that have obtained brand new passenger cars that don't have transceivers in them. The module is also probably fairly easy to physically rip out, too, without disabling the whole vehicle, if creative methods with more finesse don't pan out.
Does nobody at all in governments see what an existential danger it is to a free society for anyone in that society to have access to a database containing the complete transportation logs of every single member of the society? I can't be the only person who sees this is an existential threat to a small-l liberal democracy; there are people alive in the EU today who suffered under the USSR and DDR.
I'd be worried even if it were a benevolent person with these logs; I'm positively terrified knowing it is the phone company and their pals in military intelligence.
> Does nobody at all in governments see what an existential danger it is to a free society
Maybe. But does anybody in the governments think that the free society withering away is the danger to the government? Perhaps during the Cold War they thought so, but nowadays...
> The module is also probably fairly easy to physically rip out, too, without disabling the whole vehicle, if creative methods with more finesse don't pan out.
It's a legal requirement to have it. Sure, I can rip out the head-lights too, but then I am not allowed to use the car any longer on public roads. If emergency call is part of the cars registration I am probably not allowed to disable it without voiding the registration.
As well, no one does this. If you do it, you stand out like a sore thumb.
As a guess, I would bet that the legal requirement is that it be manufactured in such a way, not that the car's operator keep it connected to the telephone network after purchase. I shall research and find out!
It's internal to the vehicle, so I doubt it would stand out visually. The ALPR stuff and mobile towers aren't (yet) integrated.
I'm pretty sure most (all) people carry cell phones anyway so this seems rather moot. In all honesty, turning it off would probably make you stand out more than just leaving it on and/or swapping the sim card out.
It's the EU. When it comes to tech they're either woefully incompetent or malicious (I'm not sure which). They talk the talk about privacy and a free society, but their moves are constantly moving things in the opposite direction.
Sure, it eventually got struck down by the courts, but EU politicians still thought this was a terrific idea. And it's not like things have changed much since then.
I'm willing to bet there are militaries and state intel agencies in the EU that have obtained brand new passenger cars that don't have transceivers in them. The module is also probably fairly easy to physically rip out, too, without disabling the whole vehicle, if creative methods with more finesse don't pan out.
Does nobody at all in governments see what an existential danger it is to a free society for anyone in that society to have access to a database containing the complete transportation logs of every single member of the society? I can't be the only person who sees this is an existential threat to a small-l liberal democracy; there are people alive in the EU today who suffered under the USSR and DDR.
I'd be worried even if it were a benevolent person with these logs; I'm positively terrified knowing it is the phone company and their pals in military intelligence.