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diff --git a/content/entry/networked-ev-charging-stations.md b/content/entry/networked-ev-charging-stations.md index f01cb9b..edc27ab 100644 --- a/content/entry/networked-ev-charging-stations.md +++ b/content/entry/networked-ev-charging-stations.md @@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ The bad news is the worst is still yet to come. There's not a huge opposition to ## How to Fight Back If your school or workplace wants to install a networked charging station, tell them you oppose this decision and would instead be in favor of a more privacy-respecting option such as a non-networked station. If you own an EV yourself, tell them that you will refuse to use the networked charging station because you don't want to encourage proprietary surveillance infrastructure. You could also stick fliers on the networked charging stations calling for EV drivers not to use the networked stations, or at least to become informed about the problem and organize. [Chargepoint puts out their own propaganda trying to spin the surveillance off as a good thing](https://www.chargepoint.com/blog/7-reasons-why-non-networked-charging-non-starter/), a myth we must dispel. The fact is all of the items on their list are doable with non-networked charging stations running free software. If you want analytics or access controls, you could imagine a cryptographic system that uses secure private tokens to protect EV driver privacy while also making analytics possible without any sign up or extra hassle to the driver. Proprietary charging station phone apps could also be avoided and replaced with free software alternatives. -[Vulnerabilities in networked charging stations](https://web.archive.org/web/20201108115340id_/https://amatas.com/news/view/schneider-electric-s-vehicle-charging-station-could-be-hacked) have been found in the past. As everyone should know, any time there is a database containing personal data, it becomes the target of hackers. The only way to completely prevent data from being stolen or leaked in the long run is by not collecting the data in the first place. Luckily with EV charging stations, storing location data is completely unnecessary. With enough public pressure we can just do away with it entirely. We just have to show that privacy is the priority. +[Vulnerabilities in networked charging stations](https://web.archive.org/web/20201108115340if_/https://amatas.com/news/view/schneider-electric-s-vehicle-charging-station-could-be-hacked) have been found in the past. As everyone should know, any time there is a database containing personal data, it becomes the target of hackers. The only way to completely prevent data from being stolen or leaked in the long run is by not collecting the data in the first place. Luckily with EV charging stations, storing location data is completely unnecessary. With enough public pressure we can just do away with it entirely. We just have to show that privacy is the priority. # SIUe When I was attending SIUe, I emailed the parking services staff in October of 2019 about the privacy concerns I had about the new Chargepoint stations that were being installed and encouraged them to install a non-networked station instead. The reply explained that while they understood my concerns, Chargepoint is what all the public universities in Illinois are using and they determined that it would be in the best interest of their constituents to install it. I was not able to change their decision, but I got the parking services staff to at least think about the issue because a well thought-out critique demands a well thought-out response. I don't want to see the United States turning into a nightmarish big brother surveillance hellscape where privacy is impossible and the government has such strong surveillance capability on everyone that it's "turnkey tyranny", as Snowden would say. Networked charging stations are one step closer to that bleak reality. Don't doubt for a second that the government can access EV charging station location data from networked charging stations. They absolutely can. Collecting the locations on millions of law-abiding citizens is a capability no government or private entity should be allowed have. Of course companies and governments get the same location data through smartphones anyway, but that must end too. One injustice doesn't justify another. That just means we have more work to do. |