Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by saruken 1872 days ago
Same here with my '93 Saab. I replaced the smart (for its time) HVAC control system with an Arduino running software I wrote, but otherwise it's bone stock.

I'd love an electric too, but the way I figure it, continuing to use a fairly efficient vehicle that already exists is probably better for the environment than buying something new anyway. It takes a lot of resources and material to build a car.

3 comments

The problem with older cars, is that safety standards have improved dramatically in that time. So while you might have a "dumb" car that isn't spying on you, in the event of an crash, you are going to be much more likely to be injured. If I had to weigh being spied on with being injured, I'd guess the odds of being injured actually impacting my life negatively as greatly higher.

I do miss my old Saab though...

"Those who give up freedom for security deserve neither," as the saying goes, and these recent years that saying has gotten quite a bit more meaningful, I think.
From now on, you only get to pull that quote out if you make literally no compromises to your freedom for the sake of security. Lock your car doors, thus making yourself less free to open them in favor of a bit of security? Run a firewall on your server, reducing your freedom to connect frictionlessly however you like in favor of that also being true of others?
That phrase originally had the opposite meaning: https://www.npr.org/2015/03/02/390245038/ben-franklins-famou...

> It is a quotation that defends the authority of a legislature to govern in the interests of collective security.

Car wrecks are a safety concern not security.
That's not the correct quote, you're missing two key modifiers. It's "essential liberty" for "temporary security"... which is not the case here.
What about when the data is collected from all the spying and used to deny your claim?
Can you share more of the Arduino HVAC setup, possibly even the code and the wiring? I married into a family of classic-Saab-lovers and am curious.
That sounds very interesting. I don't own a Saab but I'd still like to see a write-up on your project.
I haven't written anything up for it yet, but I've been thinking about a hackaday post. Ideally I'd like to integrate the other chassis electronic systems at some point too – lights, radio, ignition, pretty much everything but engine management. Then you could add support for a yubikey or something before it would start, but it already has a manual transmission to that's probably sufficient antitheft these days.

[Very relevant BlipShift t-shirt I saw today](https://www.blipshift.com/products/enable-2fa)