this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2026
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Fuck Cars

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The only passenger in the car when an American citizen was shot and killed by a federal officer in South Texas last year had planned to speak up and contradict the government’s account of the shooting. However, the passenger, Joshua Orta, died in an unrelated car crash over the weekend.

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[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 83 points 3 days ago (2 children)

died in an unrelated car crash

Remember when the CIA Vault 7 leaks showed the CIA looking into how to hack vehicles to direct undetectable assassinations through forced accidents?

Pepperidge Farm Remembers.

[–] hector@lemmy.today 23 points 3 days ago (1 children)

No I don't remember that because I never learned it, cia vault 7 you say? Thanks for the tip I will look it up.

I am convinced Guiffre was killed from hacked vehicles in australia there.

60 minutes a few years back got a new car and paid a hacker to take control of it from the internet while they were driving it in a parking lot, and it was disregarding their commands, steering wheel, brake, gas, and doing what the hacker told it to.

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 23 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] hector@lemmy.today 7 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Thanks I want to dig into some more of that. As a quick aside though, let's recall this other spyware/hacking tools the government developed mentioned at the end of the article all got stolen and published online on shadowbrokers not long after, at least the NSA ones idk how much crossover they had with cia developed ones.

All the ransomware attacks are all nsa tools repurposed from that leak. Separately the Israeli Pegasus and it's ilk, zero click infection of phones and computers that give them total visibility, is thought to be derived from the FLAME virus the US used to infect Iranian centrifuges in the 00's or whenever that was.

Our tax dollars is what is making us vulnerable. In this and other ways we learned from the snowden leaks.

Our tax dollars is what is making us vulnerable.

Abso-lutely. Western governments like USA and the UK learned the wrong lessons from the end of World War II and have practiced security through obscurity for decades since cracking the enigma machines codes and keeping that a secret during and long after the war. They sit on vulnerable exploits under the false notion that they'll be the only ones to ever find the exploits and use them. Instead of taking security seriously by reporting exploits when found, they use them in stupid fucking hacking wargames that make the whole world more vulnerable. Security through obscurity always works right up until it doesn't.

[–] ageedizzle@piefed.ca 14 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Even more reason to pushback against the excessive the digitization of cars  

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

While the AI arms race is an unmitigated disaster for the personal computer and consumer electronics sphere (and the environment no less), on the small plus side, we might see fallout resulting in less digitization of vehicles and a return to some computer electronics such as televisions back to "dumb" models with no extra features other than being a television due to the shortage of memory and storage. They can't just dip on producing things like TVs and cars forever (they're already planning on short-term production reductions) while waiting for RAM and storage to become freely available again.

[–] ageedizzle@piefed.ca 6 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Thats a good point. I really hope you’re right. Seems impossible to buy a new car these days if you’re at all privacy conscious 

[–] OwOarchist@pawb.social 8 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (3 children)

Seems impossible to buy a new car these days if you’re at all privacy conscious

1: Buy whatever car you want.

2: Find the antenna it uses to communicate.

3: Cut or unplug that antenna wire.

4: Attempt to use some online feature of the car and confirm that it worked when you see 'Failed: no signal'.

If you're not technically savvy enough to do that yourself, I'm sure you can find 3rd party mechanics who are willing to do it for a reasonable price.

The car will then forever function in 'outside of signal range' mode without being able to connect to the internet or any other network. Some features might be unavailable in this mode, but all the important features of the car should still work. (Because manufacturers build cars to still work even when inside a tunnel or outside of cell signal range.)

It really is that simple. If your car can't communicate with the outside world, it can't violate your privacy (and it can't be remotely controlled, either).

(Okay, so there are still some privacy concerns. Mainly about data logging and retaining data you'd rather not retain. But bad actors will need physical access to your car to get at that data. Only a concern if your car gets physically searched/seized.)

[–] BreakerSwitch@lemmy.world 8 points 3 days ago

See, this is a cute IDEA I see around lemmy a lot, but a number of cars will see issues related to this. For example, subaru has some vehicles that will kill their own batteries trying to connect, and failing, to services that no longer exist, even while parked. Cutting your connection will prompt the same issue. Is that terrible design? Yes. But it's also the design used for cars made to spy on you and stop working when they can't spy on you, that don't mind forcing you to buy a new car if you disable their spying capabilities.

[–] Pieisawesome@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

They are starting to link the signal systems into other parts of the car, so things like if you remove the eSIM, your windows stop working, etc

[–] OwOarchist@pawb.social 4 points 3 days ago

Don't remove the eSIM, just cut/unplug the antenna.

The car has to function in tunnels and when you drive outside cell service range. Disconnecting the antenna (and putting a dummy load on it if necessary) will make it think it's just out of signal range, so it shouldn't refuse to work.

[–] ageedizzle@piefed.ca 3 points 3 days ago

Interesting advice. Thanks!

I hope I'm right, too. We need at least some positives to come out the AI shitshow.

[–] DudeImMacGyver@kbin.earth 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

You can and should get non-smart TVs and projectors: Look up commercial displays (absolutely worth the extra cost).

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Of course. My point is that we might see a return of these kind of devices to the consumer market if they can't afford to build smart-televisions to drop on the consumer market.

[–] DudeImMacGyver@kbin.earth 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Keep buying them and they'll probably keep making them.

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I haven't bought a new TV since 2010 and it wasn't a smart TV.

Since then I have only bought monitors.

My car was built in 1999 because I am poor. I try to ride my bike or walk as much as possible to put fewer miles on my old shitbox car plus for the environment and less traffic yadda yadda.

Fuck me go be a contrarian jerk elsewhere please. I'm obviously not part of the problem here.

[–] DudeImMacGyver@kbin.earth 0 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Weirder than responding to someone who obviously understands the issue to stop buying them?

Weirder than ignoring the entire original point which is that they won't have the ability to make new ones because of parts shortages, and to keep making them they'll have to resort to making models that don't include those features?

Yeah, OK.

[–] DudeImMacGyver@kbin.earth 0 points 3 days ago

OK, good chat

[–] TomMasz@lemmy.world 45 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Is this the US equivalent of falling out of a window?

[–] Catoblepas@piefed.blahaj.zone 21 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Probably not, because driving is actually dangerous while standing next to a window generally isn’t. No government shenanigans needed when car crashes are the most common cause of death for under 22s and the second most common for people 23-67.

[–] Gnugit@aussie.zone 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

What kind of car was it though?

[–] Catoblepas@piefed.blahaj.zone 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Not sure I understand why you’re asking? People can die in any type of car at highway speeds.

[–] SpacetimeMachine@lemmy.world 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

It's been well documented that with modern cars you can hack them and disable brakes, increase acceleration etc. I'm not claiming that 100% happened here, but it would be foolish to deny that parts of the government wouldn't know how to do these things.

[–] Catoblepas@piefed.blahaj.zone 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Oh, gotcha. No idea about anything like that, but it sounds like one of those things that’s impossible to disprove. I think it’s a valid concern, but there are so many car deaths that we can’t assume every one is a murder.

If his family came forward with evidence that the car received a signal right before his death, or that it had been tampered with, or anything like that then that would be a different situation. But it doesn’t seem like they’re claiming it was a murder.

[–] Blaster_M@lemmy.world 36 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Reminder to disconnect the internet modem on the car

[–] ChicoSuave@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] Blaster_M@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

It's the antenna leads, you may have to pull the headliner from the back. Alternately, disconnect it at the telematics unit under the center console (or wherever it is in the car).

[–] SharkAttak@kbin.melroy.org 22 points 3 days ago

"""""""""```````unrelated``````""""""""" Sure.

[–] dan69@lemmy.world 22 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Case get dismissed on the grounds the key witness has a mysterious death, and judge is too chicken to not call out bs (and don’t reply to me saying judges have to be partial and just.. where is the justice for the deceased and their family that death was attributed to all those involved (direct and indirect))

[–] decapitae@sh.itjust.works 18 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Unrelated one says...

[–] PedestrianError@towns.gay 9 points 3 days ago

@CubitOom Definitely a #CrashNotAccident here, and it seems like quite a coincidence for reckless or negligent driving to take this witness right after the story of his friend's murder by Trump's gestapo started gaining traction.

[–] DudeImMacGyver@kbin.earth 1 points 3 days ago

Hmm, yes, accident...