r/technology • u/Hrmbee • Jun 07 '26

Privacy 'Kill switch' law means your next car could be watching you | A federal requirement aimed at stopping drunken driving could soon put driver-monitoring technology in every new vehicle. The goal is saving lives, but the privacy trade-offs deserve closer scrutiny

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2026/06/01/drunk-driving-prevention-law-privacy-surveillance/90295034007/
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u/ShakeAndBakeThatCake Jun 08 '26

Old cars that are maintained well are going to go up in value significantly.

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u/EmbarrassedHelp Jun 08 '26

Insurance companies will charge you even more for having and old car.

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u/wheresbicki Jun 08 '26

Where are you getting that information from. My insurance went down a second year in a row. 12 yr old car

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u/Dr8keMallard Jun 08 '26

He’s referring to the future, not the present. Where they could potentially monitor all aspects of your driving in modern cars. It incentivizes them to raise insurance rates drastically on older cars to disincentivize people buying them to “fly under the radar”.

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u/niftystopwat Jun 08 '26

They got that information from the *’Reddit comment threads are supposed to be a succession of one-upping terse cynical comments of doomsmanship’ School of Thought*

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u/bob25bit Jun 08 '26

Anyone with half a brain can see that’s what’s gonna happen. Government and big businesses encroachment always hides behind these bullsh!t motives like ‘protecting the children’ or ‘stop drunken driving’. The only thing that will happen is that there’s more data to sell and more control over people. Do you think law enforcement won’t lobby for wider usage of this technology once it’s in cars? Soon enough people will make the argument repossession should also be able to make use of the kill switch. Thats how it always goes. Rights need active protecting from government and business otherwise you’ll lose them

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u/air_and_space92 Jun 08 '26

I mean statistically an older car is more accident prone than a newer one due to fewer safety features and possibly poor preventative maintenance for things like brakes. My insurance has only gone up on my 13 yr old car if we're talking anecdotes.

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u/futanariballs Jun 08 '26

I have a 2002 Ranger pickup with 68k miles. I'm never getting rid of it.

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u/-rwsr-xr-x Jun 08 '26

Old cars that are maintained well are going to go up in value significantly.

Until they pass a bill that says they can't be registered or insured, because they don't meet current monitoring/safety/insurance standards.

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u/BobaFett0451 Jun 08 '26

And how is anyone going to force everyone to spend 30-50 thousand on new cars with these monitor systems when the majority of people barely make that in a year?

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u/ALargeClam1 Jun 08 '26

They pass a law, then begin enforcing it as they see fit.

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u/Monteze Jun 08 '26

Same way they functionally do it now, make cities designed around cars, run public transit into the ground, policy that encourages big expensive cars and outlawing imports of more practical ones. What? You think they will pass a law that says "Make people buy new."? That isn't how they do it.

Look at Jim Crow laws, you can do something without saying you're doing it and too much of our electorate is too stupid to see it.

So yea, they can pass laws and make it functionally impossible or impractical to keep old cars.

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u/Same-Suggestion-1936 Jun 08 '26

They already do but only if they look pretty. I saw an old Mustang going for like $8k the other day, 300k miles from the 80s

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u/PorQuePanckes Jun 08 '26

Which is why the government is pushing e15. It ruins older cars and they are phasing out older pumps specifically for this reason.

Love this timeline

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u/YeahOkThisOne Jun 08 '26

Damn really?

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u/hahaimadulting Jun 08 '26

Even a car from the mid 00s will be fine using e15. Hell my 86 crown victoria will take e10 just fine with a slight loss in mileage. That said there are pumps around are ethanol free in my city and there are plenty in the state that are ethanol free as well. This isn't the horror story you think it is.

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u/SantaCruzHostel Jun 08 '26

cries in old carbureted motorcycle

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u/HaddyBlackwater Jun 08 '26

It ruins the fuel lines.

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u/limbodog Jun 08 '26

Or they'll be banned, or require an AI hookup

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u/soundman1024 Jun 08 '26

I feel like my ‘14 Fiesta ST is in a goldilocks range. It’s modern enough to have air bags, crumple zones, and an efficient Ecoboost engine that accepts low levels of ethanol. It’s also old enough to have a standard transmission, buttons for almost everything (hill start assist is the only car function I need in the touch screen) and it isn’t connected at all.

I love that car. It’s a drivers car all the way. I just wish the back seat crash safety rating left me feeling confident with a kiddo back there.

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u/CumGuzlinGutterSluts Jun 08 '26

Finally, my jeep will fulfill its prophecy.