Auto, Tech Industries Falsely Claim ‘Right To Repair’ Reforms Are A Threat To National Security
from the you-are-not-serious-people dept
“Right to repair” reform (making it easier and more affordable to repair things you buy) is extremely popular among consumers across both sides of the aisle.
It’s obviously less popular among automakers, tractor builders, tech companies, and other corporations looking to monopolize repair and boost revenues by crushing independent repair shops under their bootheel. Said companies have spent years trying to claim that making it cheaper and easier to repair the things you own poses untold privacy and security threats to the American public.
The auto industry (falsely) claims reforms would result in stalkers getting hold of your private data (you’re to ignore that the auto industry is inherently one of the worst industries in America when it comes to consumer privacy and security standards). Apple claims that right to repair reforms would turn states into dangerous “hacker meccas” (which doesn’t sound all that bad to me, but what do I know).
A bipartisan FTC study found none of these claims were true, yet they’re pretty much all pervasive as auto, agriculture (John Deere is a notorious pest on this front), medical device makers, and tech sector giants try to fend off a rush of popular state and federal reform laws.
But there’s a new wrinkle in the lobbying mix: false claims that right to repair reforms are a threat to national security. That’s the claim being pushed by The Hill (which I won’t link to) by former Trump National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien. The Hill has a long history of laundering dodgy corporate lobbying claims in their op-ed section under the guise of original thinking, and this one is no exception.
The key thrust is that making technology more open to consumers and independent repair shops would somehow (gasp) be a massive boon to foreign adversaries:
The Hill adores taking lobbying press releases and then publishing them in the op-ed section without disclosing author financial conflicts of interest. Usually by lawyers whose firms are doing lobbying and policy work for companies and organizations without being transparent about it.
Keep in mind, again, that the auto industry was just caught over-collecting consumer data and then selling it to insurers, and documentably has some of the worst security and privacy standards in all of technology. The reason they get away with it is because Congress is too corrupt to pass a meaningful privacy law or regulate data brokers. The result has been a huge parade of scandals and harm.
That corruption and apathy genuinely poses a national security threat, given lax privacy and security standards are abused by foreign governments (and our own officials looking to expand surveillance and dodge warrants). But you’ll note that, as you’re seeing with a lot of the performative hyperventilation about TikTok, the same folks whining about right to repair don’t really want to talk about that.
If these folks cared about national security they’d combat corruption. They’d pass a meaningful, well-crafted privacy law, ensuring base-level of overarching privacy and security standards. Guidelines imposing stiff penalties on corporations (and executives) that play fast and loose with consumer data, enforced by privacy regulators with the staff, authority, and resources to do their job.
They don’t support those things because they don’t actually care about consumer privacy and security, they (and I know this might come as a shock to some people), exclusively care about making money.
Surveys have generally shown that many people don’t understand what right to repair is, but once they do they very much support stuff like greater data collection transparency, limiting obnoxious software locks making parts replacement difficult or impossible, making parts, tools, and manuals more accessible, and just generally making repair easier and more affordable.
If you hadn’t noticed from the TikTok stuff, it’s trivial for lobbyists to get Congress ginned up about China and national security using little more than scary vibes. And as a growing roster of states sign off on right to repair reform laws, I suspect you’ll see companies leaning more and more on these false national security claims in a flimsy attempt to misinform the public and scuttle consensus.
Filed Under: automakers, china, consumer rights, independent repair shops, national security, reform, right to reform, security
Comments on “Auto, Tech Industries Falsely Claim ‘Right To Repair’ Reforms Are A Threat To National Security”
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The real threat to national security comes from the Chinese Communist Party and the groomers they promote via their Tick Tock degeneracy app!
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No, just fucking clowns like you that are either stupid, or just write stupid shit for a nickel a page.
Re: really?
you really think they LOVE to read your ramblings on Tic tok?
REALLY?
Which groomers are you talking about? The Ones forcing us to BE STUPID? That the Gov. Must be smarter then US, and Parents NOT responsible for What the Child does?
Teach your CHILD to be an ADULT. TEach them to be Skeptic. Be friends ENOUGH that your kids WILL ASK you questions BEFORE being STUPID.
It's as plain as day
If we allow right-to-repair, the terrorists win.
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If by ‘terrorists’ you mean the various interest groups spreading FUD about right-to-repair bills, you’re absolutely right.
Re: Re: So
We Hurt the biggest industry in the USA?
Bigger then Arms deals?
COOL!!
If Politicians Were Honest…
Unrestricted access to personal data, particularly from automobiles, opens a Pandora’s box of vulnerabilities that geopolitical adversaries such as China, North Korea, Iran, and Trump’s buddy Putin are more than eager to exploit. However, we believe you should concentrate on the false flag of right to repair bills and do absolutely nothing in regard to the data brokers capturing your metadata and selling it to foreign powers.
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“Unrestricted access to personal data, particularly from automobiles, opens a Pandora’s box of vulnerabilities that geopolitical adversaries such as China, North Korea, Iran, and Trump’s buddy Putin are more than eager to exploit. ”
Easy fix .. do not include spyware in vehicles.
Do not pass gas, do not collect data
“and do absolutely nothing in regard to the data brokers capturing your metadata ”
Yeah, like how is it a national threat to allow commoners to view data whilst it is A-Ok for anyone with the Bongo Bucks to do whatever they like.
Re: If Only
#1 every site declared they would be responsible for ANY 3rd party Bot, installed on your machine.
#2 you could get and Prove a site Forced you to watch an advert, and it was required that they PAY you $0.01 for EACH.
I think that would SOLVE MANY internet problems.
Using the internet with third-party vendors is a real threat.
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Agreed. The S in IoT stands for Security.
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Huh. I always though it stood for ‘shit’.
wish list: a set of specifications for cars similar to those for the AR-15
Too many use the rifle for evil, but many (most?) enjoy the ability to build and customize. Imagine what would happen if we had a specification that would allow us to get a frame from GM, an engine from Ford, and a transmission from Toyota to have them fit and work together. I don’t think I’m the only person that would be in a rush to clear space in the garage and start the process. Furthermore, if such a set of specifications allowed for building without the trash “options”, I wouldn’t care if the end product actually cost a bit more. I would love to have a car without the center digital console, heated seats, cameras, etc.
Regards
If this doesn’t work, they’ll say right to repair harms children next.
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Going by the above, they’re already planning on doing just that.
The real threat to national security is auto companies collecting everyone’s location data and selling it to data brokers who sell it to anyone who’s willing to pay.
We collect all your data and then terribly secure it!
Car companies do shit like:
Collect and store data they shouldn’t
Connect the engine to the entertainment system
Use no cyber security practices at all
And none of the anti right to repair software that these companies put in actually stops anyone actually interested in bypassing it.
You can hack the tesla seat heating for example.
So no, go fuck off you lazy as fuck corporations.
Priorities
O’Brien, in his article, complains that foreign governments might discover vulnerabilities within vehicles, such as sending out a OTA signal that could brick a car, or access its onboard cameras for spying purposes. But foreign adversaries with a high degree of technical expertise can already purchase these models of cars, and attempt to discover systems to exploit.
If systems are exploitable, a better solution is for the vehicles get examined by private experts, who then report on the flaws, which then embarrasses the manufacturers into fixing the flaws before they can be exploited. Or better yet, avoid the negative P.R. by creating more secure products in the first place.
Re: Building a sci-fi dystopia piece by piece
Bricking a car with a hostile OTA update is pretty harmless. More worrying would be a hostile power sending an OTA update that caused the car to crash and kill however many people. Science fiction has a number of examples of people who died in perfectly timed car crashes.
It’s like the world is viewing dystopian sci-fi and thinking it’s a good idea.
But, yeah, claiming that we need more security through obscurity is a dumb argument and is a sign that the article was written — at best — by a person who is ignorant of how security involving computers actually works.
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Just imagine if hackers gain control of the auto pilot capable vehicles and drive them around (remotely) like compete idiots causing chaos and mayhem making things slightly worse than a normal days’ commute.
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Which Right To Repair affects in no way whatsoever.
Re: Re: Re:2
Thank you for stating the obvious
Not a false flag, a red herring.
Gee, how’s that “security through obscurity” working for you?
But the truth? These devices are in user’s hands already. Private citizens, let alone nation states, already have access to the schematics, the algorithms, the software of these devices. (QV Dragon Group vs trains, the fact that we know about parts pairing)
What we’re lacking isn’t access to the devices – and any vulnerabilities therein. It is the legal right to manufacture our own, and to break the “digital locks” used to keep us from repairing the devices ourselves. Having the restrictions documented or removed would be nice, but it isn’t center stage.
Huh… I guess they are unaware of how many white hats discover flaws in software & disclose the bugs to make us all safer.
Instead we are going to pretend out enemies are going to steal out vital fluids if we get a device that tells us why the fucking shake machine is broke & how to fix it.
I guess they think the bad guys will see our law telling them they can’t tear cars down to find flaws & honor it.
Given we’ve seen people manage to take remote control over cars, perhaps having people looking for bugs and easy ways to make repairs is a good thing because car makers don’t give a shit what happens until they can’t blame it on gremlins. (See also: How many years of Kia can be started with an usb cable??)
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Well yes, because PROFITS…OMFG PROFITS!!!!1!!1~!!@
Re: Re:
I thought they were earning most of those selling off every bit of data they could hoover up from the cars after they were sold & didn’t have to pay workers for.
National Security = A Lie
Whenever “national security” is cited you can pretty much guarantee that they are lying to you.
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‘National Security’ is like ‘Think of the Children’ in that while it’s theoretically possible that the person saying it is doing so honestly and in good faith and actually does understand the problem in question and is trying to address it in a meaningful and constructive manner the odds aren’t good that that’s what’s actually happening.
'Our profits are at risk, be afraid!'
‘… and it’ll cause every puppy to be kicked! And your cereal to be stale! And people will stub their toes over three times as often!‘
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I don’t eat cereal, so I have no stake in whether it’s fresh or stale.
Circumvention is only illegal if you do it for financial gain, making money
You have actually sell that circumvention to make a profit to incur a felony prosecution
That is also why when I used to plug a tape recorder into the back of my computer 20 years ago and record drm encased tracks to cassettes to play in the car I was not committing a crime because I was doing it for my own personal use and not doing that to make money
That is why going to Mexico and get things like the the ciming kill switch does not break the criminal dmca statutes because it is not being done for the purpose of making money.
The “commercial or private financial gain” means selling it and MAKING MONEY
Backing up my DVDs did not break the DMCA either, a good idea as I got burglarized once and had my DVDs stolen.
Using Tunebite to back them.did not break the law because I was doing it for personal use and selling it for money
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Hey, shit for brains. The DMCA makes no distinction between personal and commercial use, so you’re breaking the law and encouraging others here to do so. Let me know when you finally get hit with that lawsuit for contributory infringement as well as the criminal charges for violating the DMCA.
Re: Re:
What I did 20 years ago by plugging a tape rocorder into my computer and recording DRM protected tracks into cassette tapes to use in my car did not break the the DMCA anti circumvention rules.
“Commercial or private financial gain” means MAKING MONEY.
That is the reuirement for a felony prosecution and recording DRM protected tracks onto cassettes to use in my car did meet that requirement. I committed no crime by recording onto cassettes to use in the car.
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To repeat AC:
What part of that are you too obtuse to get?
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Which you did per your earlier statement:
If the ability to repair something includes a risk to national security, then your product was a risk to national security from the get. Maybe fix that, you disingenuous, lying asshats.
Whenever that sort of shit gets served, I think of the radio amateurs and the amateur aircraft builders, and the like. I don’t know all the history of that, but when war came to the US in 1941, it had more skilled radio technicians and the like per head of population, than opponents did. Deskilling your population’s the mark of the loser.
Oh I see! See, when most people “hacker Mecca” we think “place that attracts highly skilled hackers to work together, create cool new things, and become even more skilled.
But when this Apple shill says it, he means “a place full of scary brown people, and they don’t just hate America, they hate Apple too!”
They’re appealing to politicians, so you need to make sure you apply the thick lens of racist jingoism if you want to be able tp view things from their perspective.