Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

Every starlink station (and probably) tesla, scoop up every mac address they ever see. This is one is unique in that it puts all that data into a single actor's hands.



Of course starlink stations scoop mac addresses. They are in this way equivalent to and on par with every other wifi router.

A Tesla vehicle could also scoop up visible mac addresses, and is equally as capable of doing so as every other wifi-enabled device with closed source firmware.

Android phones have been scooping wifi mac addresses, pairing them with GPS data, and sending that to google for at least 7 years: https://slate.com/technology/2018/06/how-google-uses-wi-fi-n...

Apple probably has an equivalent system.

Privacy-wise, Tesla is shitty but not extraordinarily shitty. Their surveillance capabilities do not differentiate them from among the multitudes. Let's assume maximum maliciousness. Assuming you don't own one, could Tesla track you particularly better than, say, Square? Or Google? Or Palantir? Or Comcast? Or any cell phone company? Or whomever it is that owns the cameras at each traffic light intersection?


Given who is in charge and how much power they have shown to wield over those systems, yes, definitely.

Nothing I have said makes light of those other systems and the grotesque data gathering that they do.


The person in charge is irrelevant. If you think that the other companies I mentioned aren't in the business of selling surveillance on you as well, your head is in the sand. It's the primary business model of several.


Totally disagree on the first part.

Totally agree on the second part.

They were all on stage together, regardless of how they got there. They are all there.


As opposed to every Android phone doing the same?


Continue




Join us for AI Startup School this June 16-17 in San Francisco!

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: