France in Focus

Most of us know that modern cars are stuffed full of computerised gismos that in some cases even help the car to be more efficient but few people realise there are privacy issues as well.

https://www.techspot.com/news/100064-mo ... zilla.html

Of course - they now are connected to the Internet for updates and downgrades. Not to mention e-Call (if it survives 2G switch off).

Next step - per mile billing? remote kill? remote disable if your social score drops too low?

My first thought is why would Nissan want to collect information on my sexual activity and secondly, how ?

Maybe they want to decide whether there is any market for introducing an estate version of their cars where the rear seats go flat?

Maybe the sensors that tell if someone is in a seat for the seat belt warning are dual-purpose?

Or possibly monitoring of the springs and dampers when the car is stationary.

Another great reason to never own a new gizmo orientated car!

The mind positively (or negatively) boggles.

Another element to this technology is that some manufacturers are building lots of goodies into their cars but only activating some of it depending on the price you pay. A variation is allowing certain things to be switched on later remotely if you agree to pay a monthly subscription for it. Auto industry lobbyists are pushing for laws to prohibit owners or independent garages from altering the on board computer systems to activate or enhance anything that is not agreed by the manufacturer. The internet connectivity is the key to the control they have over the product after the customer buys it. The legal argument put forward is that tampering with factory settings could be a safety issue. Consumer rights groups say that it is much more of a profit issue.

Yes. BMW's heated seats and heated steering wheel were what I had in mind - https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-62142208

And with the monthly payment option - if you don't pay presumably they will remotely disable the "feature".

Tip of the iceberg, wait and see.