Comment by chasing0entropy

> Did you know Orange dash error lights are non critical?

Your car will happily display an orange light while a bad fuel mixture is poisoning your catalytic converter to the point where it needs replacing to meet any kind of emissions test. Same with other signs of engine stress.

Don't ignore dash lights unless you know what they mean or you're willing to pay the cost of disposing of your car.

Of course many places won't even allow you to disconnect all the antennae as a non-functional TPMS makes your car unroadworthy in various jurisdictions. You could quickly reconnect everything and clear the error codes before testing, but I'm not sure if the hassle is even worth the illusion that of being untraceable.

>TURN YOUR PHONE OFF. Your phone does more than track you - the Bluetooth and wifi beacon scanners are always running. When you come across another person, most phones track the intersection of your beacon with theirs making a new data point that compromises both individuals privacy. Now consider sitting at a stoplight; you and and the 10 phones around you have now correlated the time and position you were sitting there. The person jogging by with no phone(but a set of Bluetooth headphones) is also tracked by their Bluetooth signature. Terrifying.

All phones nowadays have bluetooth/wifi mac address randomization, so it's basically useless for tracking, not to mention google/apple conscripting every phone into a wardriving network will kill battery life. Moreover all this effort in avoiding being tracked doesn't really mean much when all cars have a very visible and unique identifier that's mandated by law (ie. license plate).

> Ignore your car's complaints and error messages. Did you know Orange dash error lights are non critical?

"Tire pressure low" is one you should probably check out on a regular basis.

Yeah that’s great if you’re a CIA intelligence officer but what normal person can do this and still function in the modern world? Do the people who say this stuff leave their homes regularly?

And what’s the benefit of it all? Fewer targeted ads?

I like the rest of the comment, but...

>Did you know Orange dash error lights are non critical?

That's not even remotely true for most cars. One of the most critical alarms you can get in a car is a flashing check engine light, which are usually orange.

>Do not give in to the mirage of convenience.

I sympathise. However, being able to start de-icing my car while still in bed at 5:30 on a January morning is a powerful feature. And I'm the kind of person who wraps his tin foil hat no less than 10 layers thick.

Ideally this shouldn't involve the internet, because the car is in wifi range, but what can I do about it?

> Remove the antennas. Do not give in to the mirage of convenience.

ERROR: unable to start engine.

Ok stop with the panicking.

What's wrong with GPS in vehicles? If it's not connected to the internet, there is no issue.

What's wrong with playing music from the phone on Bluetooth or Aux? Did you also know you can ride a horse instead of a car?

Bluetooth and WiFi isn't running if you turned them off. Bluetooth also isn't really used for tracking unless someone is looking for you or you're part of some service like AirTags.

> Ignore your car's complaints and error messages. Did you know Orange dash error lights are non critical?

What? Worse advice out there regarding cars.

No, I will use all this stuff and do so gladly.