This is a flawed argument. In the former case, the decision lies with the owner and can be easily turned off, providing traditional egress. With the latter, the decision is removed from the owner entirely and there is no viable method to restore traditional egress.
It's completely offline and local once you get the software loaded. I don't think there are any geographic limitations as it's used in many other countries than the US.
Edit: From the Comma FAQ:
The camera view you see is just a portion of the full field of view. For example, the same camera in the mirror shows both the front and rear tire views. When looking at each view separately, it’s only part of the overall image, enlarged to a bigger size and, as a result, has lower perceived...
That doesn't make sense. The hardware cost was already covered by the customer during vehicle purchase and is non-recurring. It's the recurring service and development fees that we're talking about.