Ford Panopticon: Crowd-Sourced Car Tracking Revealed in New Patent - FuelArc News
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We all know automakers want to keep tabs on their cars. Stolen vehicle tracking? Sure. Fleet management? Fine. Microphone eavesdropping to serve more ads? Hate it, but OK, that’s a thing. Hold onto your tin-foil hats: Ford just published a patent for something that takes vehicle tracking into full-blown Twilight Zone territory. Always-On Tracking… In […]

We all know automakers want to keep tabs on their cars. Stolen vehicle tracking? Sure. Fleet management? Fine. Microphone eavesdropping to serve more ads? Hate it, but OK, that’s a thing. Hold onto your tin-foil hats: Ford just filed a patent for something that takes vehicle tracking into full-blown Twilight Zone territory. Always-On Tracking… In Your Car, or Somebody Else’s.

  • Carmakazi@lemmy.worldEnglish
    15·
    2 months ago

    If you own a car made after like 2012, look into disabling the DCM/telematics system for your model. Pull the fuse, or unplug the cables, or straight up remove all the hardware. Its not a perfect and comprehensive solution but it’s something.

    • KayLeadfoot@fedia.ioOP
      13·
      2 months ago

      Smart.

      I think that’s why Ford is patenting this specific tech. It prevents you from being able to turn off the tracking, by leveraging every Ford that has NOT turned off tracking to spot the vehicle that is “running dark.”

    • kn33@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      2 months ago

      I probably will at some point, but right now the convenience of starting my car from my phone is too high.