Turning off DCM is an ordeal

I am not interested in having my GPS and driving data collected and sold to insurers and other third-parties (read agreements you accepted). So I have been calling Toyota and asking to turn off Service Connect/DCM. However, it is a challenge. Calling the 800 phone number listed in the manual multiple times I figured I have to ask to escalate to Connected Services Specialist. However, they in turn are finding issues in doing that and telling me back office people have to be involved. I feel this is like trying to cancel Comcast service, they obviously don't want you to do it.

Anyone has any tips on how to correctly escalate this?

Yes, I know I can just pull a fuse.

 

There's a thread about this: https://www.4runners.com/threads/my-dcm-disconnection-odyssey.25104/

 

Did you call the number that was on the sticker on the overhead console? Did you buy any of their connectivity services previous to calling? It’s odd you’re getting the run-around.

I made one call to the number on the overhead sticker when I bought my 21. They just read me a scripted warning/disclaimer regarding the functionality I would lose, I responded I understood and agreed, and the they shut it off for good (at least if the grayed/crossed out DCM indication is to be believed. If I press the button, I just get a message indicating I have no connected services or something like that.

 

Do you use facebook, google products? I'd be more worried about that than toyota collecting data on you.

 

OP, I was able to do it the first time by hitting the SOS button, navigating the menu and they turned it off for me after giving them my VIN. I would try that path instead of calling via other phone.

It's not just that there's worse actors out there, it's also limiting who has the data and giving oneself more flexibility.

You can delete accounts, avoid some services but oftentimes leaving the car at home isn't quite as feasible as leaving a phone and using a Garmin GPS. You don't want to give Toyota or any automaker more rope here too since it can be another factor in the event of... data breach, use of metrics to affect warranty service (I can see Kia pulling that), accidentally consenting to giving your insurance company your driving behavior (e.g. speed, where you park, how much you press the accelerator...), policy/law changes in the future (hmm, parked near X political rally and they consented to sharing with partners since law enforcement does buy data they can't legally get themselves), etc.

 

I agree. I am all for privacy and would recommend everyone keep their private data private. However, we share *far more* online than we do with our driving behaviors. In my mind I'd be more worried about that.

 

I second this comment.

 

...like, posting all the information we can about our 4Runners with strangers on a website?

 

You aren't strangers, your 4Runner family.

 

Except data from the car can and does result in actual financial impact once insurance carriers have access to it. You might never know where you gave toyota permission to share it with data brokers, but you probably will, and your insurance carrier will most certainly respond to what they know about where, how far, how frequently, and how fast you go, how quickly you apply brake/throttle pressure etc.

And just because you would worry more about the greater internet, doesn’t mean that you simply roll over and allow your vehicle to be used as a data source to be leveraged against you. Especially, when you are given the option how to disable it. You can worry more about the front door, but that doesn’t mean you leave the back door unlocked.

 

The part about the financial impact is correct. I used to be subject to the "info gathering crowd" when I drove over the road semi. We were pleased with the actual "cut" in our insurance bill. If Toyota wants to 'track' us they are going to be bored to death! I understand the "privacy thing", it's why we live where we do. If someone wants to gather info on you they will. I also understand why bend over and make it easier to gather info? The amount of info Toyota will gather on you is very minute compared to being on 2 or 3 different social medias!

 

This is about a lot more than privacy. Manipulation of the truck by (fill-in-the-blank) is the far bigger issue.

 

I do not. Also, this is a whataboutism at its finest.

Toyota should not be collecting this data as it does not benefit me, their customer, in any way. I already paid them for a very expensive car. There is no reason to also violate my privacy and install peeping-Tom devices in my car. It is absolutely nobody's business what I do IN the car and WITH the car that I own.

Don't include me into that "we".

 

You are conflating exchange of information with privacy. Privacy is a question of when was the last time I took a dump and whether turds floated or sunk. Exchange of information is what is the right size of rims that would fit on a car we all own.

 

Wall of text alert:

Yep, I do have Instagram on my phone with limited permissions but no Google account so their tracking will vary. Otherwise my postings are on a couple forums and I can choose what to share with everyone here. (My 4Runner is blue and has bird poop on the hood that I need to wash off!)

Of course, Google and Facebook/Meta are good at their jobs (the data part, not really anything else) but it’s not an all-or-nothing proposition.

I have an iPhone, and yes, Apple is a big corporation who can discard their whole pro-privacy schtick in a week but currently, today, my interests and their interests on that front align and their measures work better for my use case than the alternatives*. (See: Facebook/Meta’s bellyaching)

I’ve seen writeups detailing the effort they put in to anonymize and ensure privacy of say, Apple Maps navigation metrics and Find My’s network and hey, it’s a step up versus just hoovering up everything.

Keeping photo processing (OCR, object identification) and locations frequented local to the device and the option to end-to-end encrypt iCloud data entirely are pluses. (Previously, I was backing up my device locally to my PC.)

Of course all that is limited to what I do with my phone and they are not perfect. (See: proposed CSAM scanning on-device - yeesh, imagine thinking user-hostile code on a device is a good idea but I bet we’ll see more of it eventually)

Now of course there are weak links like my cell carrier knowing my rough location, but I can choose approximate, not precise location for apps like say, Starbucks. But none of them get easy access to anything my vehicle knows and I like to keep it that way.

Especially complicating is [insert political faction you oppose here] passing laws that have legal implications for [visiting X location/service/person/activity/etc]. It’s a lot better for a company to say “I don’t have the data” than “We have everything, have at it!” And it’ll be a lot easier for law enforcement to say “Hey Toyota, gimme every vehicle that’s been there in the past two weeks, we’ll just shotgun it” than actually investigate.

And of course the whole relying on AI and flawed tech too much as well as wrong-place-wrong-time.

See: Poor Fujitsu code making money seemingly disappear resulting in hundreds of UK postal employees being falsely convicted of embezzlement over roughly fifteen years.

An officer on the ground might see “oh you’re just stopping to rearrange their cargo” but raw data may show “hey there’s a known drug dealer caught a block away HMMM.” add some human error, malice and/or conflicted incentives and boom, now it could be your problem.

*I know there are technically better privacy solutions phone-wise like Graphene OS but that’s another layer of work/support I’m not currently interested in. (And I say that as someone who enjoyed going ham with custom Android ROMs, Windows Phone, webOS, BlackBerry 10 back in the day.)

Maybe someday I’ll get to bust out my old Palm PDA which will be the pinnacle of privacy but until then, I’ll take my wins where I can get them.

 

Simple, wrap your vehicle in aluminum foil... and don't forget your hat!!!

 

If you aren’t on fb and don’t use any of the Google products, more power to you. It’s very difficult to do so.

It’s cute that you think you don’t share anything online unless you just don’t have online presence it’s impossible not to.

it’s also as you said not relevant to your question about Toyota sharing user data so I’ll stop here.