Vehicle Data Recording

Hello all. This is the first new vehicle I have purchased in quite a while. So far I like it.

HOWEVER, the first thing the owner's manual discusses is Data Recording. Where are the cameras and how do I turn them OFF? I do not consider myself a paranoid person, but having a vehicle taking pictures and sending my data off to a cloud kind of creeps me out.

Thanks in advance.

Mike

 

The little panic button on the ceiling console...press it and then tell them you want to turn off tracking or whatever they call it. They will double check that you are sure, and tell you they wont be able to help you or unlock doors, or use certain apps, etc. That will supposedly disable the gps tracking. There is a section in one of the manual about this. This was one of the first things I did after buying mine. I think that includes the cameras they use to look at how bad things are on the inside after a crash.

Before anyone complains we’re all being tracked already, wattabout your phone...etc. Yes, I have gps turned off on my phone too. And, no I dont believe you can completely avoid being tracked anymore. I view all of this as a form of risk management.

PS: Keep in mind, turning off the gps/emergency thing will not turn off the event data recorder (black box) which includes all sorts of information as well (probably gps info as well)

 

Thanks for the response. Yes, I tried to call the on-star (or whatever Toyota calls it). I got fed up w/ waiting after ten mins. I will try calling as I drive into work tomorrow.

The owner's manual makes mention of cameras. WHere are those and how do I turn that off?

No way to turn off all this nanny stuff?

 

Technology - a real love/hate relationship. Have to laugh, people of my generation thought the TV was dividing us up - little did we know...

 

I’m pretty sure there are no cameras inside the vehicle. The only one out is the rear camera.

 

Turning off gps is a waste of time on a phone, other then saving battery. Phones are constantly searching for cell towers with the phone on and you have your very own signature. Come in contact with a new tower and there you are.

 

Rented a Corolla... I think, with all the new wizardry. Displayed the change in speed limit as i passed the signs. It was Orwellian, to think what can be done with such information.

 

Well... yes and no. If you turn off "location" in settings then the phone still functions off the nearest tower, but your location isn't recorded or trackable at a later time by the authorities should they get a court order to seek active phones near a certain location... allegedly.

 

Duuuduum....Duuuduum.....Duuuduum.....doodooo dooooo it's all in the shark fin folks. They can and will track you at all times when they want to. Whether they are or not is the question.

You can turn off your gps and take your battery out, but smart phones have an internal battery to keep some systems active.
A Farraday bag is the only way to stop tracking. But then of course you lose all those convenient functions.

I remember back in the 80s people claimed that the military could take a picture of your driver license from a satellite, and others would say "Oh that's just a conspiracy theory". Well, now it seems they did have that tech all along. Sooooo, are they tracking you?

 

Debit/credit cards lmao

 

Yep, they can track large bills too

 

This troubling topic has been discussed in other threads. But for convenience, here's the bottom line:

1. Tracking is very difficult to avoid. Very. It doesn't matter what kind of car you have.

-- License plate readers are everywhere. It's by no means just law enforcement. Private companies are driving all around us taking pictures of our plates and cars, putting time and GPS stamps on those pics, uploading them to the cloud and selling them to pretty much anyone. There are virtually no laws limiting this behavior.

-- Your cell phone. It doesn't matter if you turn off GPS. Technology to track your phone using cell towers is commonplace and used by law enforcement, often without warrants of any kind. There are few laws limiting this behavior. So warrantless location searches occur regularly.

-- You credit card, debit card, and ATM transactions.

-- Auto services or repairs, even if you pay in cash, are often reported to services such as CarFax, which in turn provides that data to law enforcement and others. Thus, the time and location of your last oil change or tire replacement or repair exists in databases accessible to just about anyone willing to pay for it.


2. The problem isn't just tracking. How do you feel about a company, government or hacker taking remote control of your vehicle? Or listening to the private conversations you are having inside it?

-- Automated emergency braking, steering correction (lane keeping), self parking, remote engine start and stop, emergency alert/crash notification/concierge services, and drive-by-wire acceleration: Most cars have at least one or two of these features. Every one of them is controlled by software. If software can force your car to brake or steer or start or stop, or to listen to a private conversation inside the car, someone can manipulate that software to do so when it shouldn't. Slam on the brakes while driving 75 on the highway. Take over the steering and turn the car into a bridge abutment. Listen to your argument with your spouse. Or the business deal you're negotiating. etc etc. etc.

-- The more such systems your car has, the more the risk. Obviously. But it's not the systems themselves so much as access to them. THIS is where people should be a lot more concerned than they seem to be. If your car has a cellular chip in it, it can connect to the Internet. If it can connect to the Internet it can be hacked. Toyota could do it on their own. Toyota could do it in response to a government order. Toyota's systems could do it without Toyota's knowledge or consent when manipulated covertly by a hacker or foreign government.

-- When people talk about cyber security and cyber warfare, this is one of the things to be worried about. It would be surprising indeed if countries like Russia and China haven't already hacked into these systems, with plans to cause mayhem on the roadways should the need arise. They have already done so with much more sensitive government and corporate systems. And as noted above, US law enforcement is also empowered to exploit these systems -- even without warrants. There are documented cases of police using On Star to not just track, but to listen to conversations inside a car, and also to remotely shut down a car to catch someone.


In short, private companies are spying on us with basically no legal constraints. Law enforcement is conducting searches without warrants. Companies like GM and Toyota are allowed to develop systems that are vulnerable to government and hacker control in ways that endanger and rob freedom from citizens.

People can try to reclaim their privacy and freedom by avoiding technologies or manipulating them to be less vulnerable. But it's almost impossible, unless you want to live like a hermit in the woods. The only real solution, then, is good laws that are well enforced. We have such laws in many other areas of life. But the laws haven't kept up with this kind of technology.

 

I could care a less about who and what is tracking me!

 

Scary but well stated, especially considering the current hacking of a major fuel pipeline that serves the entire East coast. We are, in a large way, our own worst enemy - not so much by the technology that surrounds us but the way we react to it. It's all over the internet in large print about the pipeline hacking so we react to this by creating an instant fuel shortage by panicking at the the gas pumps. Most didn't notice the "small print" that this current situation should be resolved in 2-3 days but our fears only understand the moment, and that's what we typically react to. We, the US of A, have a lot of very smart people (I personally missed that boat..) - just look at what we've accomplished in the last 100 years or so. Elon Musk & Jeff Bezos have plans for Mars and their making it happen - if we can do that surely we can solve this little internet issue.. Go 4Runners...

 

ugh, too lazy to confirm right now, but as I was reading up on disabling the panic button, I thought i read they had cameras somewhere to help determine the condition inside the car after toyota and/or affiliates senses you’ve been in a car accident. I remember thinking that is kind of morbid. Send help if your gonna send help, no need to take pics in the meantime.

 

The older I get, the more I am starting to feel the same... Its a scary world we are in today.. If you haven't seen the movie Enemy of the State, you should... and keep in mind that was made in 1998! Imagine what the Info Sec is like now, 20 years later!

It truly is a double edged sword.. like someone else mentioned there is ABSOLUTELY no way out of it. Its like a fact of life! I know I am very misguided in thinking that everything is puppy dogs and kittens. I try to keep important things secure. Other than that so what.. I am a nobody in this world.

I will admit, it is kind of cool with online medical records and all the health/exercise data my apple watch collects. When I go to the Doc I can say, "Felt weird xx day, here is my heart rate info from that day" I can export a pdf of a 20sec EKG from my watch!

 

No. Phones do not have extra batteries besides the one, removable or not. What are you talking about ? you want to go quiet ? Turn on airplane mode.

 

There are no cameras inside the vehicle. Toyota barely gave us LED headlights in 2021.

think about it, how can anybody assess your injuries just by looking at a body via a wrecked camera. Can they see internal bleeding or broken bones, can say see a broken pelvis and legs under the dash ? Can they assess your heart rate and internal organs via a camera? Do you think they have doctors standing buy to look at all accidents ? Think about the liability they get themselves into: nah, he looked ok, we didn’t call the paramedics, we sorry he died. Turns out a broken back is crazy when you are loaded on adrenaline and hanging upside down.
What they do: they try to dispatch emergency services to your last known location when they get an airbag deployed signal. That’s it. Could be a raccoon or a semi truck , they don’t know.

 

I am just a squirrel looking for a nut! If anybody or anything finds any interest in that - have at it!

 

This could be old tech, as phone batteries aren't removable any longer.
But this is what I was talking about: https://security.stackexchange.com/...ting-even-while-turned-off-and-the-batt#65455

Airplane mode may not be a fail safe either, as there are back ground systems and apps that are still active.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glC-qto0fr8&t=41s

 

LMMFAO
I'm used to being tracked...it all started the day I was born
Fist my parents and teacher some crazy girlfriend along the way and DI's and chain chain of command and Iraqis (they really had it out for me) now my wife and can't forget the kids 'dadadadadadadadadadad' can't get away
Top tip: avoid doing stupid cheese and the law won't be on your back
See yall on another non weirdo @$$ thread
Go out and drive yall rig and mod the hell out of them
ROTFLMMFA

 

The Toyota dealership I purchased my truck from was HEAVILY pushing the Toyota Connected Services phone app. I downloaded it, read the terms and conditions, and declined the hell out of it. Because I declined all connected services, I gave me a warning that all data gathering (related to remote start, location marking, etc) was turned off, but if I wanted to reactivate things, I’d need to call Toyota and pay them their dumb subscription fee.

So, OP, that might be a faster way to accomplish what you need rather than sitting on hold forever.