Who Owns Your Car?

[TJC]

Two very important points in this article.

1. Who has the right to repair your privately owned auto.​

2. The owner of his private car has the right to restrict access to any data collected by the auto, where stored or transmitted.​

I have already disabled Telemetry in my 2020 Ranger, and I have completed the research of the telemetry system on my Mazda CX-5, and will be disabling it this week. Mazda didn't make it easy to find the details, but the Australians are ahead of the game in this area and documentation exist there that is not open to the public in the US.

Who Owns your Car?

You may have heard about what are styled right to repair laws. The term is a measure of just how owned we’ve become.

You buy a car, but the data stream you have to have in order to be able to diagnose what’s wrong with it – in order to be able to repair it – is not owned by you. At least, that is the position taken by the vehicle manufacturers, collectively. They insist that while they are ok with you being allowed to physically possess the vehicle, they get to decide who gets to repair it – by restricting who can access the data stream necessary to diagnose what’s wrong with it.

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But there is one more battle that needs to be fought if vehicle owners are to be just that in any meaningful sense. They must have the right – and the power – to lock out the manufacturer or any other party that does not have the specific permission of the vehicle’s owner to access the vehicle’s data, either stored or transmitted.

That latter word is italicized to emphasize a fact not well known about vehicles made since about ten years ago, which is that they emit data – about all kinds of things, including things that have nothing to do with the vehicle’s state of tune or its emissions but much to do with your preferences, including how you prefer to drive.

The data emitted is received by the vehicle’s manufacturer and any other party authorized by the manufacturer. The insurance mafia, or instance. It is not generally understood that when you buy a new car, you agree to this by signing what amount to a ULA – a user license agreement – your “agreement” buried in the arcana of the paperwork.

This “agreement” is of course a species of trickery as everyone knows that almost no one ever actually reads the proverbial fine print. So how about it be put in big print – so that everyone who buys a new car knows the score and has a meaningful opportunity to opt out and become the owner of the car they just bought?

Including the data it emits.

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[LaBalbe]

Two very important points in this article.

1. Who has the right to repair your privately owned auto.​

2. The owner of his private car has the right to restrict access to any data collected by the auto, where stored or transmitted.​

I have already disabled Telemetry in my 2020 Ranger, and I have completed the research of the telemetry system on my Mazda CX-5, and will be disabling it this week. Mazda didn't make it easy to find the details, but the Australians are ahead of the game in this area and documentation exist there that is not open to the public in the US.

So how did you disable that, and what are the side effects of disabling it?

 

[TJC]

So how did you disable that, and what are the side effects of disabling it?

On my 2020 Ranger I made 3 changes.

1. I disabled Telematics using Forscan
2) I pulled the Telematics fuse in the cabin fuse panel (in slot 9)
3) I unplugged the cable feeding the TCU just above the passengers kick panel. No need to remove anything simply look up and the unit is visible.

You gain privacy, longer battery life as the truck wakes up at different intervals at night and calls home to Ford transmitting data. Dark power drain is a lot less.

You lose Ford Pass capability, remote updates. And maybe things tied to smartphones. I am guessing here as I do not pair my phones to my cars.

I am not sure all 3 of the above steps are necessary. Unplugging the TCU may be enough. It is simply a cellular phone. Truck drives normally but no data is sent to Ford.

Here one of my original notes on the subject

And a more complete explanation with pictures and more detail of what I did.

 

[KNI]

Two very important points in this article.

1. Who has the right to repair your privately owned auto.​

2. The owner of his private car has the right to restrict access to any data collected by the auto, where stored or transmitted.​

I have already disabled Telemetry in my 2020 Ranger, and I have completed the research of the telemetry system on my Mazda CX-5, and will be disabling it this week. Mazda didn't make it easy to find the details, but the Australians are ahead of the game in this area and documentation exist there that is not open to the public in the US.

Who Owns your Car?

You may have heard about what are styled right to repair laws. The term is a measure of just how owned we’ve become.

You buy a car, but the data stream you have to have in order to be able to diagnose what’s wrong with it – in order to be able to repair it – is not owned by you. At least, that is the position taken by the vehicle manufacturers, collectively. They insist that while they are ok with you being allowed to physically possess the vehicle, they get to decide who gets to repair it – by restricting who can access the data stream necessary to diagnose what’s wrong with it.

...
...

But there is one more battle that needs to be fought if vehicle owners are to be just that in any meaningful sense. They must have the right – and the power – to lock out the manufacturer or any other party that does not have the specific permission of the vehicle’s owner to access the vehicle’s data, either stored or transmitted.

That latter word is italicized to emphasize a fact not well known about vehicles made since about ten years ago, which is that they emit data – about all kinds of things, including things that have nothing to do with the vehicle’s state of tune or its emissions but much to do with your preferences, including how you prefer to drive.

The data emitted is received by the vehicle’s manufacturer and any other party authorized by the manufacturer. The insurance mafia, or instance. It is not generally understood that when you buy a new car, you agree to this by signing what amount to a ULA – a user license agreement – your “agreement” buried in the arcana of the paperwork.

This “agreement” is of course a species of trickery as everyone knows that almost no one ever actually reads the proverbial fine print. So how about it be put in big print – so that everyone who buys a new car knows the score and has a meaningful opportunity to opt out and become the owner of the car they just bought?

Including the data it emits.

GDPR, check.

 

[TJC]

GDPR, check.

I'd rather not have to trust a law. Laws are broken every day by all levels of government. Laws are for the masses, not governments.

If they don't have the data, they don't need to protect it. And they can't use the collected data against you.

Here is a recent real world example that happened to me last week. Wife and I had just gone shopping. It was late, 11PM, and traffic was non-existant. We stopped at a red light and waited for several minutes for the light to change... it did not. I looked both ways and no traffic to be seen in either direction. I drove through the light. When I did my CX-5 gave me a double dash warning beep twice! This model is equipped with the ability to read signs and see lights. I am sure it recorded me breaking the law...running a red light! This info is going to be forwarded to Mazda. And I have to trust Mazda not to go to my insurance company or the state and report it.

Not good enough. I don't want every aspect of my life reported to individuals or entities that I do not know and have not given informed consent. Both my CX-5 and my Ranger have the technical ability to eavesdrop on private conversations. How do I know if that info is being recorded or not, or forwarded to whoever? I do not know.... so I want an off switch. But there are no off switches.

So I am turning it all off. Better safe than sorry.

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