The State of Massachusetts' Right-to-Repair law was passed in 2012, laying the foundation for the rest of the United States to begin securing consumer protections that would allow them to work on the products they own. General Motors and Stellantis are now claiming they cannot possibly adhere to the rules and have done nothing to prepare for complying with the law. Prior to the legislation being passed, independent repair shops and do-it-yourself types working on everything from ce…

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/56222

In 2020, the Massachusetts Right to Repair Initiative (known as Question 1) appeared on the general election ballot as an initiated state statute that would expand the state’s right-to-repair laws by including vehicle telematics systems. These systems contain car data that is typically transmitted outside the vehicle and typically include things like maintenance routines, diagnostic reports, vehicle location, GPS, mobile internet, and just about any other information the manufacturer might deem valuable. It’s basically anything that cannot be accessed via the OBD II port, something the industry seems interested in phasing out. Under the new law, vehicles sold in Massachusetts from 2022 onward would be required to have a standardized open-access data platform so that independent repair shops could (with customer permission) access some of that information.

Considering the general unwillingness to adhere to the law and constant obfuscation about what data is being harvested, I guess automakers have indeed gotten their wish. They’re finally all becoming loathsome tech companies ferreting your data away while telling you that it’s none of your business.