iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 25/07/2026

The next wave of automotive usury-tech was a kind of systematic exploration of the entire space between a car that is repossessed and a car that isn't. Some subprime cars are fitted with an extra stereo system that can only be controlled by the borrower over a wireless connection. 34/

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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 25/07/2026

Miss a payment and this secondary stereo turns itself on and starts playing earsplitting threats about what will happen to you if you don't pay up. The only way to turn it off is to make the payment. 35/

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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 25/07/2026

The next step is remote immobilization: miss too many payments (or violate a lease clause by crossing the county line) and your car just stops working: archive.nytimes.com/dealbook.nyt... But the apex of this usury-tech comes from (where else?) Tesla. 36/

archive.nytimes.com

Miss a Payment? Good Luck Moving That Car

Subprime lenders are increasingly relying on technology that allows them to track and disable delinquent borrowers’ vehicles with just a tap of a cellphone app.

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