Car company. On lowspeed, low priority connections (basically idle airtime) that are very cheap. Car companies also by airtime in bulk.

If I'm ever (god forbid!) forced to buy a new car the first thing I will be doing is ripping out or physically destroying the built in cellular modem.

>If I'm ever (god forbid!) forced to buy a new car the first thing I will be doing is ripping out or physically destroying the built in cellular modem.

Which would be illegal in the EU if that car is made after 2018. [0]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECall

Laws are only as good as their enforcement. Are EU mechanics a bunch of snitches?

It depends on if they have a "tampering with safety equipment" style law that applies - many times safety features must be equipped when sold but there's not actually a law against disabling or removing.

But then you don't get over the air "updates". That would probably void your warranty.

Has anyone ever figured out exactly what Tesla sends when it phones home?

Data brokers and the customer, ultimately.