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Comment by 0xcafefood | Hacker News Reader

It almost feels silly to ask, but is this legal even in the United States with its comparatively weak privacy laws? In many states, a vehicle is legally an extension of the home. So legal rights and protections that apply in one's home also apply in one's vehicle. Is the idea that, buried somewhere in the legalese, is a statement that the buyer is granting the automaker the right to spy?

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Yes, the US is pretty nearly lawless when it comes to privacy issues. Half the protections we have today are "it's legally required in the EU but low cost enough to just do globally".

Considering the government uses the private sector as a cheat code to evade our 4th Amendment, this crap needs to be addressed.

The real "cheat code" is that much of the de facto government is the private sector. Imagining some hard dividing line between "government" and "private sector" is a fallacious red herring.

I am very unfamiliar with specific state laws regarding this, but there's a federal exception for automobiles when it comes to the Fourth Amendment:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_exception

The supreme court recently decided there's no right to privacy in the US (they used this as justification for rolling back Roe v. Wade). It's pretty clear they'll be taking away more rights over the next few years.

Yeah, it's pretty sketchy but it seems the courts are allowing most it, even for second owner and non-subscribers (OnStar).

Probably not, but what can any individual do about it?

It's very difficult to show monetary damages in order to actually sue

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