Yeah it's really hard, my 2025 Toyota Sienna is always connected. You can't just pull a fuse or rip out an antenna, I have to take the entire dashboard apart to reach the Data Communication Module (DCM) module. If anyone's curious what that looks like, it's a little bit easier on the Toyota Tacoma, here are some pictures of the process:
https://www.tacoma4g.com/forum/threads/disabling-dcm-telemat...
It's complex enough that I haven't done it yet in my Sienna, but I plan to!
- there must be a physical mechanism providing connectivity to cellular networks
- this mechanism cannot be required to handshake in order to start the car (not everywhere has cell service!)
Manufacturers can certainly increase the difficulty to remove the offending hardware, but given these two axioms is can’t be determined to be impossible.
"- this mechanism cannot be required to handshake in order to start the car (not everywhere has cell service!)"
In 2025, this is true. At some point in the future, I predict this will be false. Maddening.
It's the We Must See You Online Or We Don't Owe You The Service You've Paid For Principle. Sure it starts with software (e.g. Adobe) and content (e.g. Spotify) but I can see it extending to home appliances and vehicles. Because they can.
Word to justify this principle will be used and the words will sound positive and good and consumers will nod their heads and shrug. "For Your Protection." "Safety." "Authentication." "Copyright Protection." i.e. assumed guilty offline until proven innocent online
Not if those components eventually get included as part of other core chips you can't remove. At some point, you'll have to completely redesign your cars electronics system to do so.
Think again. Imagine a scheme where the car won't start (or only operates in limp mode) if it has not been able to connect to the network (and therefore backhaul surveillance logs) in say 30 or 90 days. And this kind of scheme actually seems likely to arise from standard corporate incentives like wanting to make sure critical safety recalls actually get fixed.
