Privacy aspects of cars
Below you will find a table comparing the different surveilance areas of modern car brands. The table confirms the grim reality for someone with your values: There is no "safe" new car.
Critical (Red): Tesla, GM, and MG stand out as the most aggressive. Tesla's entire business model relies on data; GM uses OnStar to enforce payments and law enforcement requests; MG has opaque data flows to foreign affiliates.
High (Orange): The vast majority of the industry (Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, German luxury brands) falls here. They all have the capability to brick your car remotely and harvest your location data by default. The "opt-out" is usually a buried menu setting that doesn't stop the data from being collected, just from being shared with some partners.
Moderate (Yellow): Volvo and Polestar are the only ones offering slightly better controls (like local dashcam storage or explicit "disconnect" buttons), but they still rely on Google services or have the remote kill switch infrastructure.
The Hard Truth: If you want to avoid remote shutdown and mass surveillance, you cannot buy a new car from any of these manufacturers. The technology is now standard. Your only real options are older vehicles (pre-2018) or modifying a vehicle to physically isolate the telematics unit, which is a significant undertaking.
Our proposed alternative:
Buy a car produced before 2018!
If you can't the relatively best choice is a Volvo or Polestar.
Automotive Privacy & Remote Control Comparison (2026)
Critical Risk High Risk Moderate Risk Lower Risk (Relative)
| Brand | Remote Disable Capability | Primary Triggers | Infotainment & Data Harvesting | Camera Surveillance | Opt-Out / Control Ease | Location Data Policy | Privacy Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tesla | Yes (Full Powertrain) | Subscription lapse, theft, safety | Extreme | Aggressive | Hard | Continuous | 🟥 Critical |
| GM (Chevy, Cadillac) | Yes (Engine/Starter) | Theft, non-payment, law enforcement | High | Moderate | Medium | High | 🟥 Critical |
| Toyota | Yes (Starter/Fuel) | Theft, financing, recall | High | Low-Moderate | Medium | High | 🟧 High |
| Honda | Yes (Starter) | Theft, financing, recall | High | Low-Moderate | Medium | High | 🟧 High |
| Hyundai | Yes (Starter/Systems) | Theft, subscription lapse | High | Low-Moderate | Medium | High | 🟧 High |
| Kia | Yes (Starter/Systems) | Theft, subscription lapse | High | Low-Moderate | Medium | High | 🟧 High |
| BMW | Yes (Fuel/Electric) | Theft, subscription lapse | High | Moderate | Medium | High | 🟧 High |
| Mercedes-Benz | Yes (Engine/Drivetrain) | Theft, subscription lapse | High | Moderate-High | Medium | High | 🟧 High |
| VW Group (VW, Audi, Porsche) | Yes (Engine/Drivetrain) | Theft, subscription lapse | High | Moderate | Medium | High | 🟧 High |
| Stellantis (Jeep, Dodge) | Yes (Engine/Systems) | Theft, insurance telematics | High | Moderate-High | Medium | High | 🟧 High |
| Renault | Yes (Engine/Systems) | Theft, subscription lapse | High | Moderate | Hard | High | 🟧 High |
| Volvo | Yes (Engine/Systems) | Theft, subscription lapse | Moderate | Low-Moderate | Better | Moderate | 🟨 Moderate |
| MG (SAIC) | Yes (Engine/Systems) | Theft, data compliance | Very High | High | Worst | Very High | 🟥 Critical |
| Polestar | Yes (Engine/Systems) | Theft, subscription lapse | Moderate-High | Low-Moderate | Better | Moderate | 🟨 Moderate |
| Land Rover / Jaguar | Yes (Engine/Systems) | Theft, subscription lapse | High | Moderate | Medium | High | 🟧 High |
| Porsche | Yes (Engine/Systems) | Theft, subscription lapse | High | Low-Moderate | Medium | High | 🟧 High |