Your Car Is Spying on You

Modern cars collect data on their drivers and can hand it to the government, and the argument here is that buying an old, cheap car and owning things outright is the safer bet — bad news for carmakers selling connected vehicles on credit.

• New cars track where you go and what you do, and that data can end up with law enforcement.
• A cheap used car does the same job of getting you around without the surveillance.
• People financing homes and cars they do not actually own become easy to control, because losing a job means losing everything.
• Debt and constant advertising push people to buy things they never really wanted in the first place.
• Owning your stuff outright, even if it is old and unglamorous, buys independence.

Outlook: Expect more pushback against connected cars and consumer debt as people realize how much control they give up.