[AlotOfReading]

I should clarify that when I say it's a fundamental part of the architecture, I don't mean in the sense that it becomes unsafe or nonfunctional in the absence of one. Rather, I mean that it's a fundamental communication mode you have to consider when engineering a vehicle, just like cellular internet is a fundamental consideration for mobile OS architecture despite the existence of airplane mode. Hardware is selected in part to support the feature, storage is chosen to support log retention goals assuming periodic offloading, etc.

Whether it's unsafe, or a potential security vector, or has any number of other undesirable properties will depend on the specifics. Every vehicle is a highly heterogeneous distributed system, so the systems I've had a hand in designing may look very different than a different platform within the same company, let alone a different manufacturer.

But yes, every vehicle should remain safe without a network connection and privacy should be not only available, but the default.