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--- transportation:autos [2026/04/15 22:31] – [Surveillance] timb
+++ transportation:autos [2026/05/29 04:35] (current) – [Surveillance] timb
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 [[https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/01/buttons-in-cars-australian-crash-testers-are-latest-to-require-them/|https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/01/buttons-in-cars-australian-crash-testers-are-latest-to-require-them/]]
+== Physical buttons outperform touchscreens in new cars ==
+January 20, 2023
+Drivers take much longer to perform regular tasks on in-vehicle touch screens compared to physical buttons and switches, according to tests carried out by a Swedish motoring magazine.
+Vi Bilägare selected 11 modern cars from different manufacturers for tests at an airfield,  measuring the time needed for a driver to perform different basic tasks, such as changing the radio station or adjusting the temperature. At the same time, the car was driven at 110 km/h (68 mph).  A 17 year-old Volvo, without a touchscreen was selected, for comparison.
+Drivers had time to get to know the cars and their infotainment systems before the test began.
+According to the magazine’s conclusions, the easiest car to understand and operate, by a large margin, was the 2005 Volvo V70. The four tasks were handled within ten seconds  during which the car drove 306 meters at 110 km/h.
+At the other end of the scale, was the Chinese electric car, the MG Marvel R. The driver needed 44.6 seconds before all the tasks were completed, during which the car had travelled 1,372 meters – more than four times the distance compared to the old Volvo.
+The BMW iX and Seat Leon performed better, but both were still too complicated. The driver needed almost a kilometre to perform the tasks.
+Despite also being fitted with touch screens, the Dacia Sandero and Volvo C40 performed even better, according to the authors – perhaps due to a more limited feature set and simplified design. But completing the tasks in those vehicles still took a third longer than in the old Volvo, during which the vehicle travelled an additional 100 meters.
+Research by TRL in the UK in 2020 found that mobile phone interfaces for car touch screens,  known as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, reduced reaction times as much as drink or drug driving.
+https://etsc.eu/physical-buttons-outperform-touchscreens-in-new-cars/
 ==== Volkswagen ====
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 https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/04/15/1943246/us-jobs-too-important-to-risk-chinese-car-imports-says-ford-ceo
+== Trillions of miles of data: Your car is spying on you, and it's only just the beginning ==
+May 2026 - Thomas Germain
+From your weight and facial expressions to your destination, cars collect a startling amount of data about you. Some of it may even raise your insurance costs. But you can take some simple steps to limit what they know about you.
+Cars used to mean freedom. When I first got the keys to the old family Toyota it was a rite of passage, a sign I was old enough to step away from the watchful eyes of my parents and enter a world where time and decisions were mine alone. Things change.
+Modern cars are computers on wheels, and giant corporations are using them to suck up intimate details about your life and make more money. If you think driving today is a chance for solitude and independence, think again. And it looks like it's about to get a lot worse.
+Car companies will tell you themselves if you wade through their privacy policies. The information they harvest can include precise location data about everywhere you go, who's in the car with you, what's on the radio and whether you buckle your seatbelt, drive too fast or brake too hard. Some can gather details you might not expect like your weight, age, race and facial expressions. Do you pick your nose? Some cars have cameras on the inside pointed at the driver's seat. And most come with internet connections that can ship off that data as you drive in blissful ignorance.
+This is a privacy problem that can cost you money. Among the biggest customers for car data are insurance companies, and they're using it to charge some people higher prices. But there's no telling where your information is going. Some car companies admit they sell your data, but they don't have to say who's buying. That's to say nothing of the fact that you might find it a little creepy. Most consumers, experts say, have no idea it's even happening.
+"People would be shocked at the number of data points that their car collects and transmits to other people, either the manufacturer or third-party applications," says Darrell West, a senior fellow in the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institute in Washington DC. "It basically means your life can be recreated almost on a second-by-second basis."
+https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260513-your-car-is-spying-on-you-its-about-to-get-worse