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491

In all the areas I road travel in I am seeing a bunch of new carwash businesses popping up. These are membership-based services that use license plate scanning technology to match your car to your plan when you go there. They are everywhere now, even in places where you would think only one location could manage enough business but there will be like three or more of them all recently built in the last year. Smallish towns loaded with subscription carwash services. Hmm...

I'm highly suspicious of anything that collects data that isn't normally available to businesses so these license plate scanners really raise my brow. It's just as bad in some retailers that are now asking for phone numbers for every transaction. When I ask them why they need my phone number, they usually say something to the effect of "so you can get credit for your purchase". What? I'm not part of your (((rewards program))) and I don't have a profile I created with your store. How am I going to get "credit" for a purchase when it doesn't relate to anything but excessive data theft? The jews really want our data to track and control our consumerism.

Anyway, these carwashes really do make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I'm not 100% sure of their data collection angles here so I'm wondering if you guys have any insight into what they are doing with it besides their cover story of making it convenient and fast. What do you think they are doing with the correlated data and who's it being sold to or shared with? Do any of you actually trust these things enough to give them you data and get your car washed?

In all the areas I road travel in I am seeing a bunch of new carwash businesses popping up. These are membership-based services that use license plate scanning technology to match your car to your plan when you go there. They are everywhere now, even in places where you would think only one location could manage enough business but there will be like three or more of them all recently built in the last year. Smallish towns loaded with subscription carwash services. Hmm... I'm highly suspicious of anything that collects data that isn't normally available to businesses so these license plate scanners really raise my brow. It's just as bad in some retailers that are now asking for phone numbers for every transaction. When I ask them why they need my phone number, they usually say something to the effect of "so you can get credit for your purchase". What? I'm not part of your (((rewards program))) and I don't have a profile I created with your store. How am I going to get "credit" for a purchase when it doesn't relate to anything but excessive data theft? The jews really want our data to track and control our consumerism. Anyway, these carwashes really do make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I'm not 100% sure of their data collection angles here so I'm wondering if you guys have any insight into what they are doing with it besides their cover story of making it convenient and fast. What do you think they are doing with the correlated data and who's it being sold to or shared with? Do any of you actually trust these things enough to give them you data and get your car washed?

(post is archived)

[–] 1 pt (edited )

As a car guy, do not ever take a car you care about through an automated wash. The brushes and shammy wheels are never really cleaned and you are paying to get swirl marks from all the road grit the previous vehicles left on them.

[–] 0 pt

Concur except that the touchless can do a heck of a job and don't seem to damage the paint much unless you have a 90's Chevy with shitty water-based paint that can't even take high pressure water without flaking. ;)

[–] 0 pt

I always heard the problem with the automated washes was the water not the brushes. That water gets recycled and you are relying on a separator to remove sand and grit, some amount always remains and gradually wears away at the paint over time. Probably an urban legend I have no data on how the water works or the long term effect.

[–] 0 pt

I can see where that might be a problem but I don't think you'd get much grit in the water without clogging the nozzles. Even with some grit in the water, its probably less damaging than a "hand wash" using the provided brushes that also never get cleaned.

There's always the "2 bucket method" for people who want to be really really careful.