> Next level of dystopia: cellular modems becoming so cheap that every TV, fridge and washing machine comes with one that connects it to the Internet whether you like it or not.

That's already a reality with cars in Europe.

I also don't like this precedent, but I do still feel cars are quite different. You need a license to drive a car on public roads. The car needs lots of certifications. You need an insurance. You need to prominently display your (your car's) ID for all to see. If you make mistakes while operating a car, the police can stop you and the state can take away your right to drive a car.

This makes it all very different from a gadget you use for entertainment in your own home.

Yeah I agree obviously spyware in cars is way greater threat than one in a TV.

Just to be clear to anyone reading - those SIMs have one purpose only - to automatically call emergency services if you crash.

Do they need a SIM to do an eCall? I'd think not because after all it is a semi-regular emergency call.

So if the car has a SIM it probably could be removed to neutralize it without interfering with the eCall. But eSIMs might be a different problem...

It’s naive to think that this is a) the only current use

Almost everything ever introduced with good intentions gets perverted into something else

Traffic cameras, facial recognition, phone GPS, social media - all can and are used against you in one way shape or form

I’m not saying we shouldn’t have any of those things - I’m saying just open your eyes because e sims are no different

Over twenty years ago there came a mandate that all places with many people gathers (both residential and commercial housing) should have a EN 54‑21 compliant alarm transmitter to automatically notify authorities in case of a fire.

I'm afraid that we are crying wolf right now and are undermining our efforts to permanently shut down Chat Control and the likes when we complain about these efforts with a history of not being misused.

For now...?

The EU actually mandated that cars have a modem ("eCall"), so they could self-report accidents. I think this has been under reported even in tech circles.

You also need to have a spare tire or an inflate kit, that doesn't mean you can throw it at somebody's head or spray them in the eyes. Said in another manner: having eCall doesn't mean that they are authorized to send telemetry back in non-emergency situations or use it to do any other thing unrelated to the main function. Now, if there is not a law that forbids that, car makers are going to exploit that loophole for sure, but that does not mean the EU is evil in this context.

The path is obvious, is it not?

Having two independent cellular modems in a car is obviously silly, so it only makes sense to use the same module both for the mandatory emergency calling and for the telemetry.

Because the emergency calling is mandatory, it'll of course be made impossible to disable the modem - and by extension the telemetry. Oh, you disabled the telemetry? I bet that'll be called "tampering with safety equipment", and your insurance is now void, and your car is no longer road legal.

If the law doesn't mandate that eCall has to be fully independent, it'll 100% be used to spy on you.

> Having two independent cellular modems in a car is obviously silly

They should put mandating exactly that into the law.

But the EU can just (and maybe already does) mandate that such telemetry must be opt-in by the user, and on top of that the data collected that way must be treated accordingly to the GDPR anyway.