The right-to-repair movement has suffered a setback in Massachusetts this week. The Biden administration told car manufacturers not to comply with a state law that would allow independent auto shops and car owners the ability to fix their own vehicles.

Vice first reported that the major concern the Biden administration’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has with the law, which is colloquially titled the Data Access Law, is hacking. To express these concerns, Kerry Kolodziej, from assistant chief counsel at the NHTSA, authored a letter (dated yesterday) to the chief counsel of nearly two dozen major automotive manufacturers including BMW, Ferrari, Ford, and Hyundai. Kolodziej argues in the letter that since the law grants open access to a car’s telematics—which are used to wirelessly send commands to cars—a “malicious actor here or abroad” could remotely command a car. The outcomes, the NHSTA says, could be vehicle crashes, passenger injuries, or death.

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Poster Comment:

You know how messed up the Bidet admin is when they have me agreeing with Massachusetts.