Are there any new cars / car brands that credibly promise not to track their drivers?
Any car with a network connection for software updates seems likely to be harvesting driver data, or is at least capable of doing so.
Any car with a network connection for software updates seems likely to be harvesting driver data, or is at least capable of doing so.
For American, Japanese, and Korean manufacturers? You should just assume they're harvesting all the data they can get on you. GM's recent decision to ditch Android auto and Carplay was motivated in large part by their desire to better control and monetize user data collection.
For context, I've a Toyota GR86 where opting out of data sharing can be done via an app.
(Edits for some extra context)
https://www.toyota.com/privacyvts/images/doc/Toyota%20-%20Co...
> (i) the Connected Services Privacy Notice located at www.Toyota.com/privacyvts (“Privacy Notice”). Carefully review the Privacy Notice as it applies to your personal information and Vehicle (as defined below) data that we collect, use, store, share and secure to provide the Services. Please note that your Vehicle comes with a data communication module (“DCM”) that enables the Wireless/GPS Technology, as described in Section 11(a), and allows for the collection of data from you and your vehicle (e.g., location, health and driving data). BY DEFAULT, THE DCM IS ON/ACTIVE WHEN YOUR VEHICLE IS DELIVERED AND WILL REMAIN ON/ACTIVE (AND CONTINUE TO COLLECT DATA FROM YOU AND YOUR VEHICLE) UNTIL YOU CONTACT US AND REQUEST THAT IT BE DEACTIVATED.
> (b) DCM. If you cancel your Service Plan, we have the right (but, unless you ask us to, not the obligation) to turn off your DCM as of the effective date of cancellation. Once your DCM is turned off, the Vehicle will not send any data to Toyota. Depending on the connectivity to your Vehicle, your DCM may deactivate immediately, or it may take up to several days.
The GR86 forums have a few people also looking at ways to outright disconnect the hardware for this kind of stuff entirely, but I believe that's slow going - haven't kept up on it. I just have the above saved since I look at this stuff when buying any new car these days.
The obvious disclaimer applies that you may enter warranty hell if you're disabling it, because it's 2023 and I guess society is fine with this level of default tracking. You should confirm how it affects you before changing anything. Otherwise, hope people find it helpful!
Oh, the irony.
As the owner of a new Toyota who received a phone call from our dealer because Toyota contacted them about a (routine) maintenance alert from our vehicle… the car / app combination is a privacy nightmare.
They offer an opt out, and that’s good, but by the gods their default is insane.
But yes, in general, the defaults on all new modern vehicles are a nightmare.
Funnily enough that car in white at the center of the picture in the WIRED article is a Porsche (the most luxurious and less sold of all the Porsche models: the Panamera).
If they hadn't sent me those diagnostics I would not have guessed they were tracking me in the first place. Too bad they outed themselves, this time at least :)
Edit: I know at least a few companies have a test vehicle program that operates under different rules, but those are not sold to general public. So the company receive high quality data without getting into trouble with GDPR.
1. Every time you start the car, you can navigate into the system menus to deactivate data collection and transmission.
2. Call customer support, give them your VIN, and follow up in a week or two. That’s what we did.
Alternatively, I suppose you could just pull the SIM card or its fuse.
Not that I can find. It's why I won't be buying any cars made this century.