You need to watch this: You could be hit with huge insurance costs and warranty denial.

[FarNorth]

Your car is spying on you:

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[Mr Hyde]

Pull fuse number 8 passenger side foot pannel. Turns off power to the lte modem, it's wifi and other telemetrics.

 

[MCS]

Pull fuse number 8 passenger side foot pannel. Turns off power to the lte modem, it's wifi and other telemetrics.

That also means no updates?

UPDATE: Just checked mine and some of those naughty naughty features were on. Turned off everything except Ford Assist which I don't use but I may one day? I am thinking of turning LOCATION services back on as long as it doesn't data log the other less desirable stuff.

Hope it's worth the $10-$100 you get per person Ford cause I suspect you are going to have a lot of people going to the used market to purchase pre-orwellian vehicles.

*gasp* Kinda screws your long term revenue plans doesn't it? Shocking, isn't it? Buckle up, buttercup.

Kinda makes you wonder why the US and CANADIAN governments don't want to allow Chinese vehicles into the north american market! Our own domestic automakers are kinda doing the same thing; except for corporate revenue.

 

[Mr Hyde]

Yes you'd have to pop the fuse in again. For me unless the car is misbehaving I don't want it on. Cars don't need Ota updates it's a massive security hazard from a data security standpoint. The most secure computer is one In a locked room with no users. Anything less is a potential breach. I would rather do a download from ford on my known home wifi or a very secure multi form authenticated download site and transfer via USB stick if possible.

 

[Mr Hyde]

Also check the back of your obd 2 connection. My car had a "LoJack" device installed but was never listed n my build sheet or window sticker. It was connected by an obviously aftermarket and easily removable harness. The device in question was more than a recovery tool. If its powered on it an send a signal. It can read and send all data relating to the cars speed, location, lateral forces, a well as other data telemetrics. Mine was tucked nicely behind the kick panel.

 

[MAT1955]

Jesus weeps!

 

[roket]

privacy in the modern age is a myth. your car spies on you. your phone spies on you. your computer spies on you. your house spies on you. other people's phones spy on you. honestly, i think at this point it may be too late to push back on it, companies have been inching into people's lives with incremental nice to have "oh, that's useful!" features until oops! companies know you better than your family or any stalker does

 

[MCS]

privacy in the modern age is a myth. your car spies on you. your phone spies on you. your computer spies on you. your house spies on you. other people's phones spy on you. honestly, i think at this point it may be too late to push back on it, companies have been inching into people's lives with incremental nice to have "oh, that's useful!" features until oops! companies know you better than your family or any stalker does

This is true, hence all jokes about saying "car parts car parts car parts" when near your wife's phone.

However, that being said. My phone doesn't tell my insurance company that I did 140kph on the highway allowing them to justify jacking my rates up 25%

I don't mind people having information about me. The army has it. The fire department has it. Untold number of companies have it. HOWEVER, that data isn't being used to fleece me for profit. At least that I am aware of LOL

 

[Mr Hyde]

It's gotten rather orwellian for sure. Short of disengaging and living in a cave. You will always have some data collection you can mitigate it to a fairly good degree. Delete me and opterry help as well as places like privacy 4 cars all of which act as agents to remove your data from brokers. I'm not paranoid it's when I stop being paranoid they get me.

 

[MCS]

It's gotten rather orwellian for sure. Short of disengaging and living in a cave. You will always have some data collection you can mitigate it to a fairly good degree. Delete me and opterry help as well as places like privacy 4 cars all of which act as agents to remove your data from brokers. I'm not paranoid it's when I stop being paranoid they get me.

Which of these services is specific for Ford? Privacy 4 Cars?

 

[Mr Hyde]

Opterry and delete me are internet search and other generalized data some crossover. I pay for opptery 19.00 a month with vet discount. Privacy4cars is specific to auto data collection brokers and is currently free as they build their broker database. It's not 100% but it does help a good bit.

 

[MAT1955]

@FarNorth ..... absolutely staggering. My Mustang keeps telling me to put two hands on the wheel even when I HAVE two hands on the wheel - bet the Insurance company would love that.

 

[Thomas]

Old news im afraid. People buy into convenience and entertainment too easily these days. I bailed on social media and personal smartphones years ago, and you can do as suggested, simply pull fuses to disable telematics, GPS etc. Don’t buy smart devices of any kind. Use cash (what a concept…), don’t just assume you have to provide information when asked, or accurate information. Much is presented in ways to make you think you have no choice. You do.

This type of stuff has been industry standard fare in electrical engineering publications for a decade. It’s frustrating to try and explain and warn people about what is happening and where it leads. The worst part is that most people do not care. Especially the post/late-millenial generations. Entertainment and convenience is a drug that people cannot put down, just like an addict. They may even know it’s harmful…but addiction is a terrible thing. There has been some realization, fianally, of how harmful much of this stuff actually is especially when it comes to kids and how their brain develops which has been encouraging, but I’m still afraid long term that Orwell hit the nail on the head. It just won’t be as obvious. I think people are afraid of sounding crazy too, because media does a good job telling people that people who say stuff like this are crazy. You’re not crazy, get rid of smart garbage, get a good old dumb phone, stop browsing social media all the time…people just need to take the simple actions.

Most importantly, stay educated. This is increasingly hard to do with the bologna generated and curated online these days.

 

[Alan Applegate]

We've done this to ourselves. A lot of us here can remember when our parents bought their first TV, and later their first color TV. How delightful. First B&W Howdy-Doody and then color Mickey Mouse club! Then suddenly our grandkids are into TikTok, Facebook, X, and a few more social media sites. Each one of these milestones were (are) a step closer to full control by the powers that be. Heck, we've even allowed them to take away our stick shifts!

 

[Zig]

We've done this to ourselves. A lot of us here can remember when our parents bought their first TV, and later their first color TV. How delightful. First B&W Howdy-Doody and then color Mickey Mouse club! Then suddenly our grandkids are into TikTok, Facebook, X, and a few more social media sites. Each one of these milestones were (are) a step closer to full control by the powers that be. Heck, we've even allowed them to take away our stick shifts!

It aint called ‘programming’ for no reason

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