87
submitted 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by DreitonLullaby@lemmy.ml to c/privacyguides@lemmy.one

Does anyone know about the legality of removing the built-in sim cards from your car, specifically in Australia?

I don't intend on using any car smart-features when I get one. For context, I've never owned a car. When I do get one though, I intend to remove the sim card to prevent the car's location from being constantly tracked. All I care about in terms a cars functionality is a radio, a CD drive (Yes, I use CD's), and Bluetooth audio, so I don't think removing the sim card should affect this much, if at all. Any knowledge and advice would be appreciated, thankyou!

Update: What I was referring to is an eSim, which appears not to be in the form of a physical card. Even so, if possible, I would like to disable the functionality of this eSim assuming the car I purchase has one in-built. From my research, I cannot find anything that explicitly forbids disabling or removing Sims.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] ironhydroxide@sh.itjust.works 4 points 4 months ago

Better would be to locate the antenna connection on the device that's doing the communication, and replace the antenna with a dummy load.

[-] DreitonLullaby@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 months ago

This is the first I've heard of a dummy load. What exactly would be the purpose of replacing the antenna with a dummy load?

[-] ironhydroxide@sh.itjust.works 5 points 4 months ago

RF analog electronics can often be damaged if powered without the antenna load, and of those that won't be damaged, many will be able to detect and fault for lack of antenna load.

So replacing the antenna with a dummy load will keep the system operating "normally" without risk of damage, but also without actually sending data.

[-] DreitonLullaby@lemmy.ml 2 points 4 months ago

So you're saying that other electronics used within the car (ones that aren't damaged by the lack of antenna) may be able to detect the lack of antenna as a "fault" and thus hinder their own functionality? Also, by "antenna", are you referring to the one used for the radio? Like an Aerial? So my understanding is that giving the antenna connection a "dummy load" is a way of removing the antenna, and stopping the sending of data, without damaging or hindering any other electronics/components of the car.

[-] ironhydroxide@sh.itjust.works 3 points 4 months ago

Sort of.

The electronics that do the communicating could sense the lack of antenna as a fault, then indicate to other devices in the vehicle that fault. This could potentially cause the vehicle to light it's fault indicator, among any number of other things.

And by antenna, yes it could be what you think of as an Aerial, but it likely won't be the same one as for the radio (some antennas are multi purpose, but most are tuned to specific bands)

this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2024
87 points (100.0% liked)

Privacy Guides

16746 readers
2 users here now

In the digital age, protecting your personal information might seem like an impossible task. We’re here to help.

This is a community for sharing news about privacy, posting information about cool privacy tools and services, and getting advice about your privacy journey.


You can subscribe to this community from any Kbin or Lemmy instance:

Learn more...


Check out our website at privacyguides.org before asking your questions here. We've tried answering the common questions and recommendations there!

Want to get involved? The website is open-source on GitHub, and your help would be appreciated!


This community is the "official" Privacy Guides community on Lemmy, which can be verified here. Other "Privacy Guides" communities on other Lemmy servers are not moderated by this team or associated with the website.


Moderation Rules:

  1. We prefer posting about open-source software whenever possible.
  2. This is not the place for self-promotion if you are not listed on privacyguides.org. If you want to be listed, make a suggestion on our forum first.
  3. No soliciting engagement: Don't ask for upvotes, follows, etc.
  4. Surveys, Fundraising, and Petitions must be pre-approved by the mod team.
  5. Be civil, no violence, hate speech. Assume people here are posting in good faith.
  6. Don't repost topics which have already been covered here.
  7. News posts must be related to privacy and security, and your post title must match the article headline exactly. Do not editorialize titles, you can post your opinions in the post body or a comment.
  8. Memes/images/video posts that could be summarized as text explanations should not be posted. Infographics and conference talks from reputable sources are acceptable.
  9. No help vampires: This is not a tech support subreddit, don't abuse our community's willingness to help. Questions related to privacy, security or privacy/security related software and their configurations are acceptable.
  10. No misinformation: Extraordinary claims must be matched with evidence.
  11. Do not post about VPNs or cryptocurrencies which are not listed on privacyguides.org. See Rule 2 for info on adding new recommendations to the website.
  12. General guides or software lists are not permitted. Original sources and research about specific topics are allowed as long as they are high quality and factual. We are not providing a platform for poorly-vetted, out-of-date or conflicting recommendations.

Additional Resources:

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS