Slate Auto Claims It's EV Pickup Will Never Track You
(www.slateforums.com)
sanitation
PrivacyBecause you can never actually buy one?
Backed by Bezos
Yep. Thats my biggest concern. What is stopping him from stepping in and demanding they change the data collection to feed into Amazon for marketing to you? Or who knows what else.
Bez doesn't need Slate, he has all your data coming from your phones.
Exactly this. Their claims mean nothing when Bezos can make one call and switch them to surveillance mode.
It’s not an entirely analog experience, though; a Slate smartphone app can manage settings, change drive mode, and provide range and charging info. But only when connected locally to the car—there’s no embedded modem, so forget about remote access. And the company says that while it may use data from the app to improve its products, it won’t sell that data.
That’s according to a new report from SAE International’s (and sometime Ars contributor) Roberto Baldwin. “We are building it around ownership value,” Slate said. “We collect data to make ownership better, not to turn the owner into the product. The app will collect data only when it directly contributes to enabling or improving a customer experience. Privacy is paramount. For Slate, privacy is not a compliance footnote. It is part of the product experience.”
“Customers should understand what is being shared, why it matters, and how it helps them own the vehicle with more confidence,” the company said. “That may include data needed to support account setup, device-to-vehicle connection, diagnostics, maintenance guidance, service support, charging context, OTA update status, customer support, and product improvement. Slate is being intentional about what the app can do and what data it collects. We would rather be precise and trusted than overpromise connected features or collect data without a clear customer benefit.”
Introduction of a smartphone app with phone home capability and a promise to only take data "with a clear customer benefit" is a far cry from both the headline and the original value proposition of the car.
Not one mention of consent. Not one mention of choice aside from the author's assumption that you don't always need the app (locking the ability to change driving modes behind it seems pretty significant).
This seems like a substantial blow against the already extremely niche market for the Slate, before even a single car has rolled off the line.
Yeah, seems like this is a convoluted way of saying "don't worry, your data doesn't go directly to is, it passes through our required phone app!"
For a vehicle that's supposedly supposed to be very simple (manual crank windows etc) why would you have functionality that requires a smartphone???
Everything I read said the smartphone app is not required.
Edit: I misread your comment, there was some noncrititcal functionality that requires their app.
Seems like the smartphone app is entirely optional, though? You should be able to use the truck without it. And the "there’s no embedded modem" part means that the truck literally can't spy on you without your phone helping.
There's also the little bit about "only when connected locally to the car" -- which suggests to me that the phone communicates with the car via wifi or a plugged-in cable. So, possibly, you could install and use the app, but just disable internet access for that app. Then you could get the benefits of using the app without any possibility of it spying on you. Or even install that app on a cheap old $50 phone that doesn't have an internet connection at all, and just use that phone to interface with the truck.
Sure, it's not perfection when it comes to a privacy promise ... but it sounds like you could pretty easily use this truck in a way that makes it impossible for it to spy on you.
There’s also the little bit about “only when connected locally to the car” – which suggests to me that the phone communicates with the car via wifi or a plugged-in cable. So, possibly, you could install and use the app, but just disable internet access for that app. Then you could get the benefits of using the app without any possibility of it spying on you. Or even install that app on a cheap old $50 phone that doesn’t have an internet connection at all, and just use that phone to interface with the truck.
The system as described is essentially a modem. I guarantee it will have cellular capabilities built-in. Whether that's advertised or not is a different story. But all powered-on cellular modems are capable of two-way communication, regardless of whether a SIM or subscriber ID or whatever is installed. I mean, when issued, emergency notifications are pushed to all powered cellular devices, and they can all make emergency phone calls as long as there is a cell tower in range, carrier be damned.
What makes you think Slate's backing corp wouldn't ship the car without a cellular backdoor? Especially being backed by Bezos of all people.
We should always give corporations, especially start-ups, the benefit of the doubt.
Not sure if sarcasm...
I'm not sure if I'd even give them 'the benefit of the doubt'. But if what they're saying here is true, then it sounds like it should be possible to use a Slate truck without compromising your privacy too much. It does remain to be seen if they're actually telling the truth here.
Comparing to most other manufacturer it large step in right direction. But right, not enough yet.
Not niche. Would have.
Yeah ... If they can get pricing to be where they've hinted it should be, then the Slate should not be a niche product.
If they can manage to make good on their promise to produce the cheapest EV on the market, and one with great utility and affordable customization options on top of that (maybe even 3rd party customization options), then that's going to be a highly desirable vehicle for a lot of people. There's a lot of people out there (I'm one of them) who understand that an EV is the most practical, most affordable way to get around, but are priced out of current EV options. Most EV options are very expensive, and even the cheaper ones still carry pretty hefty price tags when compared to a used Prius or something. An EV with truly economy car pricing is going to be huge, and I bet it will catch on fast, especially when it's also a very practical car that can potentially handle hauling around a family or cargo.
The one big downside I see that might hamper mass adoption is the lack of a 4-door version. But if the original is a success, I bet they'll be developing a (slightly more expensive) 4-door version soon after.
I really wanted one of these until I realized it wasn't 4WD, which is pretty much required in a place with 6-8 months of snow. I love the utter simplicity of a steering wheel and not much else. My current truck has crank windows and manual locks, and a radio I haven't turned on in 5 years.
I'll keep an eye on it though.
it wasn’t 4WD, which is pretty much required in a place with 6-8 months of snow
Pickups only need 4WD because they have 1920s designs with all the weight at the wrong end of the vehicle from the drive wheels. Ev pickups have a perfect weight distribution from the battery pack and don't need 4WD.
I live in Canada and have never need 4WD, just proper winter tires.
I love the utter simplicity of a steering wheel and not much else
That's our 1980 Mercedes 240D in a nutshell. Fully mechanical diesel engine, manual transmission, crank windows, vacuum-powered locks (yeah that's right), and manual HVAC with functioning A/C.
It's my wife's absolute favorite car. She says we are never buying another automatic. God....I want to marry her all over again.
I really wanted one of these until I realized it wasn’t 4WD
That put me off as well. As much as I would love a little runabout EV pickup, I would 100% lift it with larger tires and take it out to the local rock crawling areas. But 2WD makes that fairly difficult.
4wd/offroad ability is one of the core pillars that makes a truck a truck. The other being the ability to carry a bunch of shit. And maybe a third being the ability to pull heavy stuff, but that's basically just the first two, combined. I'd argue that the ability to carry a bunch of shit is the most important thing defining what makes a truck different from a car or van.
4wd/offroad ability is one of the core pillars that makes a truck a truck.
Oh please...maybe for TV commercials. 99% of real world pickup buyers won't even get the beds dirty.
4wd/offroad ability is one of the core pillars that makes a truck a truck
That's debatable. The core function of a pickup truck is the ability to haul and/or tow a lot of shit. The 4WD aspect allows one to do so in rough terrain. But there are plenty of 2WD truck trucks as well. The old 70s Chevy/GMC C10 and C20 pickups come to mind. Those were the go-to for contractors back in the 80s and 90s (my late contractor grandpa swore by them) when they were "just an old piece of shit"; same with the 2WD Ranger, Hilux, Tacoma, S10/S15, Dakota, etc... Great utility trucks.
yeah a lot of the cheaper f 150s are 2wd, but they run 70-80k
Why bother tracking someone through their car when you've already got their phone? I mean even if the slate truck doesn't have a modem or anything they'll see you using the slate app on your phone and that's all they're going to need to know isn't it.
It's like that one company that promised to be able to listen to conversations of people while their phone was off - that turned out to be a scam and the simple reason why they don't actually do that is because they just don't need to.
Here's a thought: the slate truck explicitly not having an entertainment center and relying on you bringing your own phone to act as one means that the slate truck will probably have a higher proportion of phone use while driving compared to another vehicle. So I guess what I'm saying is if you want to keep yours completely off the internet you'll need a CD player.
Or just a speaker that can play off a USB stick.
the truck doesn't track you it's all the backend stuff doing the tracking
