From The Drive · Adam Ismail · · 50s
Cheap Aftermarket Head Units Loaded With Spyware
Cheap car stereos hide spyware that tracks your location and calls.
In brief
Cheap car stereos hide spyware that tracks your location and calls. Cheap aftermarket car head units often contain spyware that tracks location, records calls, and installs irrelevant apps. Originally reported by The Drive.
Reddit user finds spyware in cheap head unit
A Civic owner bought a cheap aftermarket head unit from Amazon and used Claude to discover spyware.
“What was reportedly discovered isn’t surprising, but is worth knowing about.”
Spyware uses 1/3 processing power
The spyware uses about a third of processing power even when idle, and includes Baidu location services, a call recorder, and DAB radio.
“This apparently always used about a third of processing power, even while idle, which isn’t great.”
Chinese apps auto-reinstall
The head unit has a script that automatically reinstalls QQMusic and Ximalaya apps if they are missing.
“Naturally, all of that was ripped from the operating system.”
Spyware irrelevant outside China
The spyware includes services that are only useful in China, making it more egregious for Western buyers.
“But people are buying these products to replace the old tech in their old car, and vendors don’t communicate what they contain.”
The essence
Cheap aftermarket car head units often contain spyware that tracks location, records calls, and installs irrelevant apps.
