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California residents may find it difficult to acquire new wheels next month if state legislators can\u2019t hustle a bill across the line to delay the implementation of a series of digital privacy measures. If the state fails to extend its July 1st deadline, every \u201cconnected\u201d car in California will become a very expensive lot ornament.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s probably not what the state\u2019s legislative body had in mind in 2024 when it passed a law<\/a> which (among many other consumer electronics privacy provisions) required automakers to implement new hurdles for would-be electronic stalkers. State law now requires manufacturers of any connected device to allow owners to terminate shared access to location-tracking services when presented with evidence of a restraining order.<\/p>\n Well, according to Automotive News, automakers are collectively warning California that they\u2019re not going to finish implementing their new safeguards in time<\/a> to meet the July 1 deadline\u2014and likely won\u2019t be able to fully comply with the new law before the end of 2026. <\/p>\n As it stands, dealers would have to stop selling any connected car (new or used) whose manufacturer has not yet complied with the law next Wednesday. California\u2019s state legislature is crafting a bill (SB 719) to postpone the first<\/a> of the new measures by a year, and full implementation until 2031; that would align it with California\u2019s new remote kill switch requirement<\/a>. <\/p>\n That would represent a three-year delay for full compliance; currently, all elements are required to be in place by Jan. 1, 2028.<\/p>\n