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Showing Original Post only (View all)Wall Street Can Now Disable Your Car When You're Driving on the Freeway [View all]
http://www.alternet.org/subprime-lending-car-buyers-fueling-bubbleImagine this scenario: Youre on an important trip miles from home and stopped in traffic, but before you can continue on your way, your car shuts down. Youve got enough gas in the tank and no mechanical problems. But youre stranded far from home because youre a few days late on your car payment and the lender wont let you drive until the debt is paid.
If this sounds like part of a dystopian future in which repo men are now cyborgs, its not. Its happening today and becoming a big part of the new automotive landscape. Car dealers and automotive lenders are targeting those with poor credit by installing GPS-based kill switches, or starter-interrupt devices, on the cars that they sell.
The New York Times recently reported that about 2 million cars are now outfitted with such kill switches in the U.S., which is about one-quarter of subprime car loans, and creditors are not shy when it comes to remotely disabling cars whose owners are behind on their payments:
"Some borrowers say their cars were disabled when they were only a few days behind on their payments, leaving them stranded in dangerous neighborhoods. Others said their cars were shut down while idling at stoplights. Some described how they could not take their children to school or to doctors appointments. One woman in Nevada said her car was shut down while she was driving on the freeway.
"Beyond the ability to disable a vehicle, the devices have tracking capabilities that allow lenders and others to know the movements of borrowers, a major concern for privacy advocates. And the warnings the devices emit beeps that become more persistent as the due date for the loan payment approaches are seen by some borrowers as more degrading than helpful."
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Wall Street Can Now Disable Your Car When You're Driving on the Freeway [View all]
xchrom
Nov 2014
OP
I can't believe people really think that the engineers behind the technology are idiots
snooper2
Nov 2014
#149
well off people get their shit repoed as well...(They are usually most pissed off actually LOL)
snooper2
Nov 2014
#154
America, you voluntarily surrendered your privacy years ago when you signed up for social media,
Fred Sanders
Nov 2014
#5
Blame game? Fucking rights. You have to admit you have a problem first...and few are.
Fred Sanders
Nov 2014
#7
"Blaming and trying to make people feel they did something wrong" is exactly what should b done
belzabubba333
Nov 2014
#18
people need to relaize nothing is free - the "free" software you just downloaded probably
belzabubba333
Nov 2014
#36
Embolden them more? They can already fucking shut off your car, how more "more emboldened" do
Fred Sanders
Nov 2014
#84
You miss the point, it was a created mindset of not placing value on privacy, FB was the pioneer.
Fred Sanders
Nov 2014
#89
Tellling people not to sign up for Facebook isn't the answer. i believe it is
belzabubba333
Nov 2014
#95
How social is an anonymous comments thread, I reject your definition and your logic.
Fred Sanders
Nov 2014
#205
It took half a dozen posts for you to understand and acknowledge an obvious point
Orrex
Nov 2014
#120
No. I'll take it up with the lenders who decided this was the way to handle default.
kcr
Nov 2014
#137
What? So your house is also not yours, until fully paid to the last penny? Please.....sir.
Fred Sanders
Nov 2014
#87
That is absolutely the case. You do not own a home until you pay for it fully.
Bluenorthwest
Nov 2014
#98
A ladies car died here in Seattle and she tried to pull to the side of the road
rhett o rick
Nov 2014
#177
The companies say it doesn't work when car's running. Yet one paid a "confidential settlement" to
suffragette
Nov 2014
#197
Looks like similar tech use is spreading - $$$ prioritized over privacy, safety and dignity
suffragette
Nov 2014
#216
"Banks Can’t Get Away With Horrible Mortgage Practices Anymore, So Now They’re Doing It With Car
suffragette
Nov 2014
#222
This sounds slightly sensational ... Wall Street? It's car dealers and automotive lenders ...
Auggie
Nov 2014
#25
But is it you who is comparing protesters to those who have broken agreements, stiffed their kids,
Bluenorthwest
Nov 2014
#101
Too bad there is no kill switch on the high frequency trading computers on Wall St.....
Hotler
Nov 2014
#34
The most important thing is that you now recognize that you were treated shabbily and
KingCharlemagne
Nov 2014
#93
No doubt the corporatists will trumpet that story to the ends of the earth.
AverageJoe90
Nov 2014
#164
There has been many low budget used car dealers doing this for a long time
liberal N proud
Nov 2014
#51
True, they worship Wall Street so much that they don't even pay attention to what they
Rex
Nov 2014
#204
i buy used cars-just cheaper-how do i know device is not on car i just bought
dembotoz
Nov 2014
#111
A vicious kidnapper was just found due to the devices you are attacking.
former9thward
Nov 2014
#125
My car has two GPS devices - but I paid to have them installed and know about them
REP
Nov 2014
#210
If I were in anonymous, and I am NOT suggesting they do this, but, I would be tempted to...
stevenleser
Nov 2014
#157
Well I for one do *not* want to live in a United States where Lloyd Blankfein cackles maniacally
Nye Bevan
Nov 2014
#180
Imagine this. Someone borrows money from you and agrees to pay it back, then they don't and tell
RB TexLa
Nov 2014
#208
Besides doing this at a time that could indanger the drive, what if that do someting stupid.
Lady Freedom Returns
Nov 2014
#209