DaveHathaway
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This isn't a review, per se, but is about SLATE. As is typical, the fun stuff is in the comments. Instagram is the reddit for casuals.
This isn't a review, per se, but is about SLATE. As is typical, the fun stuff is in the comments. Instagram is the reddit for casuals.
We lost the plot, because not being tracked while you drive is now a selling point and it’s backed by Jeff Bezos
A startup called Slate says its pickup will ship without a cellular modem, the part that keeps most new cars constantly online. Without one, Slate says the truck cannot be tracked remotely and its app only works when you are standing at it.
Slate sells that as a feature, and it is worth asking why it has to be one. In May, General Motors agreed to pay $12.75 million to settle California’s claim that it illegally sold hundreds of thousands of drivers’ location and driving data to two data brokers.
Those brokers, LexisNexis and Verisk, planned to resell the data to insurance companies for setting rates. Regulators said GM held the data long after it was needed, then sold it between 2020 and 2024.
It is the largest penalty ever issued under California’s privacy law. Honda paid $632,500 last year and Ford paid $375,703 this year in the same review, though both were penalized for making it too hard to opt out rather than for selling data.
Only one half of Slate’s promise would be permanent. If the truck really ships without a modem, remote tracking becomes physically impossible and no update can undo it. Everything else Slate says about your data is just a written policy.
A written policy can be rewritten at any time. Thorin Klosowski, a privacy activist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told SAE Media that promises like this are not always kept long term, and that it is worth watching.
Slate’s early backers included Jeff Bezos through his family office, and its CEO, Peter Faricy, ran Amazon Marketplace before joining. The company has raised roughly $1.4 billion and has not delivered a single truck yet.
Slate’s promise cannot be tested until the truck ships. The penalties against GM are already on the record.
Privacy shouldn’t be a feature. Use the Conscious Spend app to find ethical companies that actually care about you. 🔗 in bio
Sources: California Attorney General, CalPrivacy, SAE Media Group, TechCrunch, WardsAuto, Carscoops
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