<rss version="2.0" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"><channel><title>Hacker News: concerned_citi</title><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=concerned_citi</link><description>Hacker News RSS</description><docs>https://hnrss.org/</docs><generator>hnrss v2.1.1</generator><lastBuildDate>Sun, 04 Oct 2026 08:35:36 +0000</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://hnrss.org/user?id=concerned_citi" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"></atom:link><item><title><![CDATA[Ask HN: can Wireless-CarPlay dongles steal your data?]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>So I recently ordered one of the many wireless Carplay dongles from Aliexpress that work via USB in your car connecting your iPhone to the car's Carplay via Bluetooth (and/or Wifi) to the USB dongle.<p>The instruction manual mentioned a firmware upgrade which had an interesting way of connecting to the internet. So when the dongle is connected to a power source you can connect to it via Wifi and an IP address in your browser. Now in the dongle's web UI, there is a button to upgrade your firmware. But how does this work when the dongle is not connected to the internet at all?<p>Well as I learned, the dongle simply uses the iPhone's mobile connection to send/receive data from the internet. I wasn't aware this is even possible and there doesn't appear to be a way to stop this or be notified of an active connection (aside from the wifi connection obv).<p>Now my concern is: when the dongle is connected to the iPhone in the car, is there a way for the dongle to use the same mechanism and send Carplay data (messages, contacts, etc) to a remote server using the iPhone's mobile connection?</p>
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<p>Comments URL: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43470337">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43470337</a></p>
<p>Points: 46</p>
<p># Comments: 31</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 25 Mar 2025 12:20:28 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43470337</link><dc:creator>concerned_citi</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43470337</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43470337</guid></item></channel></rss>