Automakers Look To Neuter Maine ‘Right To Repair’ Bill Under The Pretense Of Privacy Concerns
from the this-is-why-we-can't-have-nice-things dept
Last November, Maine residents voted overwhelmingly (83 percent) to pass a new state right to repair law designed to make auto repairs easier and more affordable. More specifically, the law requires that automakers standardize on-board diagnostic systems and provide remote access to those systems and mechanical data to consumers and third-party independent repair shops.
But as we’ve seen with other states that have passed right to reform laws (most notably New York), passing the law isn’t the end of the story. Corporate lobbyists have had great success not just watering these laws down before passage, but after voters approve them.
In Maine, lawmakers have been trying to convince Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike to introduce new amendments modifying (read: weakening) Maine’s law. While automakers and some lawmakers insist the point of the changes are to protect consumer privacy, right to repair advocates say the real point is to water the bill down to the point of near-uselessness:
“[This amendment] would allow automakers and their dealers in Maine to create a monopoly on automotive repairs by severely restricting access to mechanical information and data needed by independent repair shops to fix the cars of their customers,” the coalition said in a statement.”
The original law mandates the creation of a new portal that car owners and independent mechanics can access to reset car security systems. Automakers must also create a “motor vehicle telematics system notice” system informing new car owners how access will work. The bill also mandates that the AG create an oversight board to ensure automakers are complying with data share requests.
But automakers are now trying to claim that this new system would somehow be a threat to consumer privacy. So they’ve convinced some lawmakers to push for amendments that would eliminate the standardized database, and the oversight entity as part of a total rewrite of the bill:
“With amendments introduced by Rep. Amanda Collamore, AIR-Pittsfield, the bill is effectively a rewrite of the existing right to repair law, without the requirements for an independent oversight entity, a standardized database platform, and equipment to track repair data going into the standardized platform that car manufacturers would need to install in cars sold in Maine moving forward.”
Here’s the thing: automakers demonstrably don’t actually give a shit about consumer privacy. If you recall, a recent Mozilla study showcased how most modern vehicles are a privacy nightmare, collecting no limit of data on users (and their phones, when attached via Bluetooth). Without that collection being transparent with users, or that data being properly secured and encrypted by the manufacturers.
Most lawmakers couldn’t care less about those privacy violations by automakers either, and are nowhere to be found when consumers demand reform or companies require oversight. Yet here they are suddenly professing a deep interest in consumer privacy, only after voters approve a law making vehicles easier to repair. Pushing changes activists don’t like and voters didn’t approve. Funny, that.
Companies that oppose right to repair have a very long history of hiding behind consumer safety and privacy issues when trying to defend their profitable repair monopolies. It’s fairly standard operating procedure. In New York, that resulted in a bill with giant loopholes that exempted the biggest offenders. Hopefully Maine’s right to repair law, the fourth in the country, doesn’t suffer the same fate.
Filed Under: automakers, consumer protection, consumer rights, law, privacy, right to repair
Comments on “Automakers Look To Neuter Maine ‘Right To Repair’ Bill Under The Pretense Of Privacy Concerns”
Dear Maine Lawmaker,
I don’t want to waste your time. How much do I need to donate to your re-election campaign fund to get your vote to undo this arrogant and annoying act created by ignorant citizens? Incidentally, if you do vote for that bill, we’ll donate generously to your opponent in the next election…
Will somebody explain why the dealers can be trusted, yet the independent mechanics cannot? If anything, the independents are more trustworthy, as they have to keep their customers, where the dealers are used to being the only choice customers have..
God bless those automakers, being ever so concerned with consumer privacy.
Re:
Their hearts just grew three sizes.
This is why we need introspection in laws. Perhaps something like:
1) The AG is required to compile and make publicly available a report on the impact of this referendum every 6 months.
2) Striking or amending the provisions in this referendum (including this provision) may only be performed by referendum, until after the first AG impact report has been public for 12 months.
3) This referendum will be automatically placed, for re-approval, upon the next ballot held no earlier than 6 months after the first AG impact report has been made public. (Provisions 2 and 3 will be dropped from the re-approval version.)
… It may be a bad bill, it may get declared unenforceable by a court, but at least the legislature wouldn’t be able to ***k it up until it had proven itself. And hey, if folks don’t like the results, it’ll sunset.
Sadly, most people watch the evening news and if the evening news tells them “it’s for privacy” they’ll believe it.
So ima be that guy and repost my comment from the later article here:
So yeah, that privacy and security thing: Maybe if your damned car* had half the pointless electronics ripped out, along with and all the code that tracks everything and creates privacy and security nightmares in the first place, there wouldn’t be an issue, would there?
*or whatever.
… a Republican. :shocked pikachu:
Well if protecting driver privacy is so important...
I’d love it if in response to this bill someone put forth an actual car-related privacy bill that prohibited the collection of information from vehicles beyond what is absolutely necessary to keep the vehicle running at the time, mandated the deletion of that data on a regular basis and imposed hefty mandatory penalties to any company that sold that data.
For some strange reason I suspect that that bill would get a lot less support from the auto manufactures/sellers and their pet ‘oh so privacy concerned’ politicians…
Re:
I have the impression that the car manufacturers are very much concerned about independent mechanics re-introducing driving privacy like it was before the days of mobile phones; thereby eliminating a the projected income from selling car location data to all kinds of snitches.
Confusing typo in the 3rd paragraph
“In Maine, lawmakers have been trying to convince Republican and Democratic lawmakers…”
I believe it should be “In Maine, LOBBYISTS have been trying to convince Republican and Democratic lawmakers…”
Re:
Toe-may-toe, toe-mah-toe.