Or, more accurately, a spy computer on wheels.

If you’re driving a late model car or truck, chances are that the vehicle is mostly computers on wheels, collecting and wirelessly transmitting vast quantities of data to the car manufacturer not just on vehicle performance but personal information, too, such as your weight, the restaurants you visit, your music tastes and places you go.

A car can generate about 25 gigabytes of data every hour and as much as 4,000 gigabytes a day, according to some estimates. The data trove in the hands of car makers could be worth as much as $750 billion by 2030, the consulting firm McKinsey has estimated. But consumer groups, aftermarket repair shops and privacy advocates say the data belongs to the car’s owners and the information should be subject to data privacy laws.

And, Congress fails to act for the people. Surprise, surprise.

It has been some time but I have covered this topic before. That was over four years ago. Things have changed; it’s worse now.  The alternatives are slim. One can get a used car as an end-around. But, one has to go back 20 years or so for a guarantee. Why do you think they did cash for clunkers?

Another possibility is for someone in tech to design a blocker or a patch that masks the car’s multiple computers. This is probably illegal. Congress, never quick to act for us, has acted for “them;” the car companies have proprietary software. You either take it to their dealership or to an independent who pays a fee for access. And, the way these things work, masking or shutting off the CPU may well totally disable the car.

We’ve been backed into a corner for a reason – total control. They will soon try to mandate automated bot cars that you can’t control and which log your every move. Goodbye, last shreds of freedom.

The only other possibility I can think of is a reverse EM shield that stops outward wireless transmissions. They’ll probably make that illegal too.

Drive on.