How to disconnect your car from the internet
The short version: A privacy channel's guide to cutting your car's internet connection is a reminder that modern vehicles are rolling data-collection devices, not just a convenience feature.
Our Take
Credit to the creator behind Digital ID, Mass Surveillance and Digital Currency for tackling something most drivers never think about: the modem quietly humming inside their dashboard. Automakers have spent the last decade turning cars into always-on data terminals, reporting location, driving habits, and diagnostics back to corporate servers — often with vague consent buried in a touchscreen EULA nobody reads. Knowing how to physically sever that connection is a rare and useful piece of practical privacy advice in a landscape full of abstract warnings.
We cover this territory because connected-car telemetry and ALPR networks are two halves of the same surveillance coin. Even if you disconnect your vehicle's built-in modem, Flock Safety cameras and similar automated license plate readers posted on public roads can still log your plate, timestamp, and location every time you drive past — no onboard chip required. Cutting the cord on your car's internet connection is a smart move, but it doesn't make you invisible to the fixed infrastructure watching the road itself.
That's why we track where these cameras actually are. Check our camera map to see what's logging traffic in your area, and visit our take-action page if you want to push back on these systems at the local level, not just under your own hood.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Digital ID, Mass Surveillance and Digital Currency, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.