this post was submitted on 16 May 2026
271 points (99.3% liked)
Privacy
5666 readers
96 users here now
Welcome! This is a community for all those who are interested in protecting their privacy.
Rules
PS: Don't be a smartass and try to game the system, we'll know if you're breaking the rules when we see it!
- Be civil and no prejudice
- Don't promote big-tech software
- No apathy and defeatism for privacy (i.e. "They already have my data, why bother?")
- No reposting of news that was already posted
- No crypto, blockchain, NFTs
- No Xitter links (if absolutely necessary, use xcancel)
Related communities:
Some of these are only vaguely related, but great communities.
- !opensource@programming.dev
- !selfhosting@slrpnk.net / !selfhosted@lemmy.world
- !piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
- !drm@lemmy.dbzer0.com
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Why does a car need a microphone?
For hands free phone calls
but my phone has a microphone
Yes, and many regions currently ban any phone usage while driving, including taking phone calls. A hands-free system makes this task much easier.
For voice calls with your phone, some cars have voice activated features, etc.
It's all crap I don't need.
My sentiments there. I was wracking my brain trying to find a use case where I would actually need my car to hear me, and I now miss my '86 SAAB 900 SPG
+1...I had 1981 Saab 900 while working at a Volvo dealer and my last one was a 9-3. I miss Saab.
Our 2016 car has voice controls - had it for 3 years before I realized.
Works like shit too.
So my mom can call me because she's lost, but doesn't want to stop to check her Google maps because she's in a "dangerous part of town" (downtown Seattle).
(My mum's not a bigot btw, she just lived in a village of 1000 people until she was 29 and anywhere with more than 20 people at once makes her anxious. Costco trips also have her on alert like she's part of Seal Team Six)
Bluetooth phone calls?
I suppose, though a BT headset seems less intrusive
It is against traffic laws to be wearing anything on your ears in many places. I got pulled over in Colorado in around 2010 for having one ear of a wired headset on. Didn’t get a ticket, but still sucked.
It’s something about being able to hear sirens and stuff around you. It’s dumb because people will blast music as loud as they want but having one ear covered gets you in trouble.
Deaf people can drive though
Oh, I know. And I wonder how many people with large hearing aids get pulled over too.
Deaf people spend their entire live deaf and they adapt. They don't suddenly become deaf when they start driving.
Except for the ones that don't. Do you really not know about hearing loss?
Some drivers suddenly become deaf but don’t suddenly stop driving though too.
Agreed. That sounds like needless legislation.
More to do with the Doppler effect than anything dealing with sound deadening. You also don't point the pipes the direction your going .
Don't give those assholes any ideas.
Even if they did, it would work terribly.
Aside from phone calls, I do find it handy to use with CarPlay when I need to get directions while driving or respond to an SMS.