You buy a car to gain freedom. To escape. But what happens when the very machine you use to flee becomes the leash holding you back?
Recently, a woman in Australia discovered that her Tesla had been hijacked. Not by a sophisticated hacker in a basement, but by her abusive ex-partner. He was tracking her real-time location, locking and unlocking the doors, and terrorizing her—all from a simple app on his phone.
We built vehicles to take us away from our abusers, and then we connected them to the cloud.
You’ve probably noticed that everything in your life is becoming “smart.” Your phone, your doorbell, your fridge, and now your car. Automakers market these connected vehicles as the pinnacle of personal safety and autonomy. They promise remote start, climate control, and seamless tracking. But they conveniently forget to mention the fatal flaw: anyone who ever had access to your digital account can keep it.
The paradox is sickening. For decades, a car was the ultimate physical sanctuary. If you made it to your car, you could drive away. Today, a ‘smart’ car is a digital cage. If your ex is still on the app, your engine might not start. Your doors might lock from the inside. Your location is broadcasted directly to the person you are trying to hide from.
When your escape route is tethered to an app, it’s no longer an escape route—it’s a trap.
Let’s be absolutely clear: this isn’t just a user error, like forgetting to remove an ex from a Spotify family plan. Automakers are effectively building mobile surveillance networks. By failing to implement strict, immediate access-revocation protocols and mandatory in-cab alerts when a remote command is executed, they are complicit in tech-facilitated abuse. They are prioritizing frictionless connectivity over human safety.
Automakers aren’t just selling you a car; they’re leasing you a surveillance network with wheels.
Think about the design choices here. When someone remotely accesses your car’s location, why doesn’t the infotainment screen flash a massive warning? When a digital key is used, why isn’t there an immediate push notification to the primary owner? Because the auto industry values the illusion of convenience over the reality of your security. They want the fleet connected, the data flowing, and the subscriptions paid.
As everyday objects become permanently tethered to the cloud, your physical safety is now dictated by your digital account hygiene. Any past shared access can be weaponized against you. It’s time to demand hard kill switches for connectivity, mandatory in-cab alerts, and default privacy settings.
If your car can be remotely hijacked by a malicious ex, it’s not a smart car. It’s a hostage situation.
FAQ
Q: Isn't this just the user's fault for not changing their password?
A: No. Automakers design these systems to be frictionless for data collection, not security. If a car can be remotely controlled, the system should mandate two-factor authentication and in-cab alerts for any retained digital access. Blaming the victim for poor digital hygiene ignores the fact that the manufacturer built a weapon without a safety switch.
Q: How do I protect myself if I drive a connected car?
A: Immediately audit your car's companion app. Remove any shared users, reset your account password, and enable 2FA. If you are in an abusive situation, contact the manufacturer directly to demand a hard reset of the vehicle's telematics system, or have a mechanic physically disconnect the cellular modem.
Q: Should we just stop buying connected cars entirely?
A: Yes. If the auto industry refuses to implement strict access-revocation protocols and mandatory in-cab alerts, consumers should reject connected vehicles entirely. Give me a key fob, CarPlay for my music, and nothing else. Keep the cloud out of my steering column.