Cue obvious 'Soviet Russia' joke.

I'm not even sure what search terms to use for this, it seems such a nebulous topic (and when most people talking about 'tracking' cars, they mean the racing type ) but I recently read this article and it reminded me that this is a common practice nowadays.

To date, the newest car I've owned has been a 2006 - far before this was common or feasible - but I figure that an F-Type is recent enough: does anyone know if Jaguar collects any of this information? If the F-Type has some capability to log your driving habits and 'phone home', so to speak?

If so, is there a way to disable it?

 

Maybe, maybe not.

https://www.classaction.org/news/cla...edded-document

 

If your car still has an active Remote subscription, it does record "journeys" You can enable/disable this feature within the app, as well as clear/delete them. If my car is at the dealer, I can check to see if it was driven, when, where. Now what JLR might do with this if they are able to access it? IDK.

 

Most current cars are doing some form of tracking, even if it's just for warranty purposes. Sometimes, driving data is held on a hard drive in the car. For more "linked" models, information goes back to the manufacturer. The real question is whether specific companies are sharing/selling the information for marketing or to your insurance company. Even when they aren't selling the information outright, it can be subpoenaed by court order in the US.

To check any car, you can enter the VIN at:

Vehicle Privacy Report

and get a specific report. From there, you can create a form to opt out. I've done all of mine (well, not the e-Type).

 

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/f...ection-291123/

 

Thank you, everyone! This suddenly seems more complex than I thought. I figured there might be an opt-out in the car's infotainment system somewhere, but...

 

It depends on who's looking and which data is concerning for you. Governments armed with Judges' approvals, can find out where YOU were and exactly when. With proper approvals, they can automatically record every conversation you have, on any device, but not historically, only after the warrant. Where many people went and when, qty to and from, is easily bought in the US, less so in the EU. That's not from the cars; that's just cellular, and/or Wi-Fi traffic, it's all anonymous, but ya know... Satellite coms right now are a bit gimpy for locations, but not for long. Cell carriers now deliver extremely accurate location info to ONLY emergency services on a separate network for only this. It is not GPS; it is via a special triangulation system. If you want/need to be found, call 911.


Your car, and all others, collect operational min, max, and avg for every performance metric. The systems use these historical tables to adjust the tuning tables for normal operations. You technicians and service facilities can view and track your maintenance practices, if it all was entered. There are many ways to determine how hard you drive it. With only the average fuel flow per distance I could get a clear picture.

 

I let my InControl lapse and filed the privacy request that has been mentioned here. I'm wondering if I should also remove the SIM card to be 100% sure the car is not reporting on me.

I don't use any conectivity from the car that I am aware of. I navigate stream music with my phone and use the phone's hotspot when needed. I don't recall ever seeing a notice about over the air software updates, and don't see any reason to think I need them.

As far as I'm aware I'm not paying for any service for the SIM now that InControl has lapsed.

If you have removed your SIM what happened? Anything I need to worry about? Thanks.

 

Well, your phone is tracking you everywhere even if the car isn't.

 

We all know about phone tracking, right? The question is what could the car report about speed, g forces, late night driving, etc. And would removing the SIM card help prevent that. As well as what other effects SIM removal might have.

 

Which SIM card do you mean? AIUI, the Jaguar SIM is embedded in the telematics unit, which is distinct from the user SIM that's accessible in the centre cubby.

 

This is getting interesting. There is a SIM in the telematics unit? I was not aware of that. What does it do? Is JLR paying for service for it? I'm not inclined to try to open the telematics unit up.

I was talking up to this point about what I think SCM is calling the "user SIM". In my 2017 it is installed up near the rear view mirror. What would removing that SIM do given that I have let InControl lapse?

 

interesting that there is is a SIM near the rearview mirror???

My 2017 was built late 2016 and so, is a 'transitional' car in terms of SIMs and USB navigational updates. Other year Fs can use a 'user' SIM to update their Nav database. My car only has a USB port in the console for that purpose. (and no updates are available, more recent than 2020).

If I want to use my phone, I have to pair it with the car.

I opened up the area behind console, where the telematics battery is housed, in order to replace the battery. I did not see any slots for a SIM. Would be interested to learn where that telematics SIM is.

 

AIUI, Jaguar supplies their SIM to allow the telematics unit to talk "home" and handle stuff like OTA updates (remember those?), notifications of theft and flat batteries (ask how I know about that last one!) but doesn't wan to foot the bill for stuff users want to do, hence the user SIM for navigation updates and other internety things - you pay for your own data!

 

Above is correct, the built-in TCU SIM allows software downloads and reporting of crashes without relying on a customer supplied data plan.

As a dealer tech, we had to get a customer authorization form to get telematics data released for engineering if there was an issue with a supposed brake failure or other safety related issue, with telling them the date/time and the customer agreeing to have the data released, the engineers could see all the basic vehicle metrics like speed and throttle input, brake pedal pressures, lots of info. This is somehow stored out of the vehicle, where and how I have no idea, nor for how long or how old of a car. Most of my involvement was on fairly new vehicles, probably with active in-control subs.