Hi,
I'm thinking about buying a car, and have noticed that they have data monitoring and engine switch off in the newer ones.
Does anyone know how true this is, and if it's invasive, like location data etc. Also is there a way of disconnecting it, so it can be made a private vehicle.
Cheers, Camerart
Yes, it's "a thing". If you buy a brand new car today, it
WILL record some data, and it
WILL send at least some of that data back to the manufacturer.
Some of this is a legal requirement. For example, the e-call system that has (by law) to be fitted to new cars, will know your location. However, if you don't crash, it will over-write that data with new data. It's only if you crash, that it sends your positional data to the emergency services. Most manufacturers, (having gone to the trouble of installing the hardware), will also use it for their own breakdown services, so that if you break down while under warranty, they know where to find you.
Likewise, for at least a decade now, pretty much all modern cars will record a rolling (say) 30 seconds of data from most of the sensors that are already there - speed, temperature (engine and ambient), brake line pressures, lighting status, revs, throttle position, etc. Again, this isn't always transmitted anywhere. Manufacturers tend only to use it when doing accident investigations where there is a question mark over whether something on the car failed. It's ass-covering for them. As with positional data, it is constantly being over-written. For all new cars registered in the EU from next month, this will be formalised by regulation. Search for "Event Data Recorder" legislation. The only real difference, is that the car MUST now surrender this information to the authorities, on demand. Large-scale data (anonymised), will be shared with the EU Commission to better target future safety measures. (For example, whether the Intelligent Speed Assist system had been over-ridden or switched of by the driver. The UK is considering adopting the regulation, but whether it does or not, any UK car that is built to the same spec as one that is sold in the EU, will probably have that system anyway.
In a similar vein, the EU Commission is always looking to improve the accuracy of its emissions testing drive cycle for fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Anything registered after about the end of 2020 will be recording the "since factory" average fuel consumption and transmitting it back. Also anonymised, and nothing to do with the car manufacturer, just regulation.
An old university mate of mine now works for the government on things that he'd have to kill me, if he told me about. One of the things he did, which, (obviously!), he didn't have to kill me after telling me
was a forensic disassembly of a car. (
Real disassembly, mind - like, even the chips in the ECUs)! They found
five devices, capable of transmitting data, in one form or another - only three of which, the manufacturer admitted to knowing anything about! This raises all sorts of interesting and scary questions about certain "Far Eastern" component suppliers... It all sounds a bit hard to swallow, but I believe him!
And finally, another mate, who took his BMW on a track day, and afterwards, mysteriously, and I'm sure purely by coincidence
, started receiving all sorts of adverts from BMW for uprated brake and suspension components...
So.. yes, they absolutely can, (and do) collect certain data and transmit some of it - either by law, or because the manufacturer wants to. Somewhere, in the smallprint that you sign when you buy the car, there will be some disclaimer. For example, I have the right to demand a copy of all the data that my car has sent to BMW. I've done this a few times (really to see what it says about battery health), and I get a big PDF (13 pages!) back, stuffed full of data I can't understand (most of it coded). So, for example, I know that my battery's state of health (last time asked for a download), was "200". (Not that it means anything to me)! Looking online, I found that:
200 = Adequate health status of battery
140 = Limited: Battery replacement recommended
110 = Inadequate: Battery replacement required
80 = Degraded: Battery replacement urgently required
I'm guessing that it's just the percentage of the original capacity left, multiplied by 2. (So 200 means 100% of "as new" capacity and 140 means 70% of "as new" capacity.
bmw-cardata.bmwgroup.com
Not that I think BMW are any different to any other car manufacturer, by the way...
So if you want to buy a car that is utterly incapable of storing (or transmitting) any data at all, you'd best get one that is at least 20 years old, (and preferably 30)!
