Don’t forget that even if you can disable its network connection (which is still an important step to avoid remote control shenanigans), the data collection may still continue, and if that’s the case the make’s diagnostic software will forward it to the cloud the next time your car is at service. I’m afraid that can’t be avoided.

Check make/models online to see if there’s a fuse you can pull that powers the telemetry computer. Sometimes the telemetry is part of a combined computer unit. Sometimes it’s an isolated computer unit.

your username 🥰

Buy a renault 12

I only saw a few people saying this, but buy a used car from anywtime-2012 max.

Make sure that car is in good shape, has been up to date on oil changes and was well taken care of. And if you wants some newer car features, adding in a newer stereo could do the trick.

But get used to learning how to fix your car because less cars will be made that meet your requirements. Meaning that if you don’t to sacrifice privacy for a new car when yours breaks down, be ready to fix it.

All new cars that I know of come with either online trackers or offline trackers. Some are part of a safety system (like the one automatically dialing the emergency number if you crash), others are part of the infotainment system (live traffic updates, map updates), and then there’s the app stuff. A new car carries with it one or more cell phones and anything cellular can easily be tracked (which is even worse if you live in a country where carriers sell live location data to bounty hunters, like the USA).

If you know what you’re doing, you can probably take out all the transmitters so you can’t be followed live. Data will be stored on computers inside the car, but as long as it doesn’t get stolen or sold that data is safe inside. Might void your warranty and pop up a check engine light, though. You should also be wary of disrupting any internal antennae, like the ones for reading pressure sensors and other digital communication inside the vehicle. You may disrupt something and crash your car, and if you survive your insurance will fight tooth and nail not to cover your medical expenses.

If you don’t know much about cars or don’t want to go hunting for the exact right transmitters, buy an older car.

However, with how many dashcams and traffic cams are installed alongside the road these days, I don’t think it even matters much what you do to the car anymore.

The effort needed to neuter surveillance equipment in modern cars without compromising functionality is comparable to the effort of sprucing up an older car. Possibly biased from driving and maintaining a decades-old car. Is there a particular reason you prefer a modern car?

Buy one made before, I dunno, 2005?

https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/blog/privacy-nightmare-on-wheels-every-car-brand-reviewed-by-mozilla-including-ford-volkswagen-and-toyota-flunks-privacy-test/

https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/articles/its-official-cars-are-the-worst-product-category-we-have-ever-reviewed-for-privacy/

There’s no way you’re “covering up” an antenna. Frequently the antenna is the body of the car itself.

Look up the fuse box layout of the car model you’re interested in to check if the communication system is on a separate fuse that you can pull without disabling anything else useful.

Lots of stuff here but for something useful.

Get a radio /cellular disruptor /signal jammer you plug in the cigg outlet. Wont be able to listen to radio or use your phone.

Old car if possible.

If not a basic Dacia is the least bad of the new ones.

Dare I ask what you are doing in your car that requires privacy?

Are you not wanting people to know where you go or are you beating off in the passing lane and don’t want to make accidental eye contact with anyone?

Don’t answer those questions actually. I will assume what the answers might be and respond to whatever my imagination gives me.

First things first, if you are beating off and don’t want anyone to see, get tinted windows. One way mirrors would be sweet but are probably illegal in most places. They would be nice for those a-holes that drive at night and have stupidly bright headlights. I could really see myself in a car with mirrored windows that aren’t one way mirrors.

Others already covered that phones track everything and your car is harvesting all the data it can. Driving without a phone is exponentially safer than with one. That’s my opinion, I have no way to claim it as fact with any proof. Makes me wish phone booths were still a thing but I doubt one would fit in any modern car.

Even if you secured the car or found an old one that worked well, you’d need to avoid every camera out there and even things like billboards. Billboards frequently have wifi or bluetooth by the way. They track the cars that drive by and the people that walk by. Not just the noticeably electronic ones, take a close look at a billboard sometime, especially if you can see behind it. You’ll likely find a device doing more than just powering spotlights on the crappy advertisement.

Unless someone invents a wearable Faraday cage that isn’t obvious or constraining, you are not invisible to the all seeing eyes of technology.

If you want vehicular privacy so no one knows you are buying illegal drugs, you’ll want to choose a place that’s secluded with a good view in all directions to avoid ambush from cops or gangs. Alternatively you could do a place that’s very busy, hide in plain sight. It depends on how much you trust your connection. I mean your drug dealer, not your internet plan.

If you want car privacy to pick up a prostitute in a place where prostitution is illegal, simply say you only wish to film a pornography. This makes you a director, not a criminal. Maybe. I’m not a cop or a lawyer.

If you want to be private in a car while you pick up a prostitute where it is legal, you can park beforehand and approach the individual or group on foot. You could also borrow a friends car or get a rental. It’s legal, you really could do it with any vehicle. Don’t hide your desires. Be free.

If you seek privacy in your vehicle to work as a prostitute, regardless of legality, you probably will have a difficult time obtaining customers. A custom license plate that is crafted cleverly enough might do the trick. You could also make an account on OnlyVans.

If you auto privacy is needed because your psycho ex is stalking you, go make some friends at the nearest gym and start carrying mace or a tazer. Wasp spray is a cheaper alternative to those. It has great range and is almost as effective at a fraction of the cost. Don’t hide, it’s time to fight back!

If your privacy needs when driving are because you are stalking your ex, don’t do that, you psycho. It’s time to move on. Let them go. There are plenty of fish in the sea. Don’t worry if feel like you are going to die alone, because remember, in your car you are never truly alone. Technology is always watching. Even when you masturbate in your car.

Hope this helps, drive safe!

Don’t get a tesla for one, apart from that try not to get any that has internet or other services if you can.

I’m sorry to say this, but I don’t think you can really maintain privacy.

Sure, maybe you can disable some antennas to stop your location from being broadcast, but there are cameras in ever major road, so you cant get far without being spotted by a camera. Cars can also store data locally, then if you take your to the dealership, they will access the data. So you’d have to find an individual car mechanic that doesn’t read this data, and at anytime, they can betray your trust. Not to mention, your phone is kinda already tracking you, so you’d have to turn that off as well, even dumbphones still have cellular triangulation and has even worse security. And whenever you need to use your phone, the carrier will know where you are.

So I think in the modern world with all these cameras, you kinda have to accept that you ain’t gonna get much privacy.

Or the alterative is to not have a phone on you when you travel, take public transport, cover your face, etc.

If you want privacy, you’ll have to sacrifice convienience.

Here’s my advice: Don’t buy a car. Ride a bike or take public transit. Walk whenever possible.

Find where the cellular antenna is, and cover it with a rudimentary faraday cage.