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A federal judge dismissed a class action lawsuit against Honda that alleged Honda's downloading text messages sent to/from the cell phone connected to the car was in violation of the Washington Privacy Act
Reasoning: To succeed at the pleading stage of a WPA claim, a plaintiff must allege an injury to “his or her business, his or her person, or his or her reputation.” Id. Contrary to Plaintiffs’ argument, a bare violation of the WPA is insufficient to satisfy the statutory injury requirement.2 See Jones, 2023 WL 7097365, at *3.
Reasoning: Plaintiffs must allege an injury to “his or her business, his or her person, or his or her reputation.” Wash. Rev. Code § 9.73.060. Plaintiffs failed to do so here.
So what?
Ford is downloading the text messages & call logs from your cell phone if it's connected to your vehicle
How do we know?
The response says so:
"Ford manufactures and sells automobiles with integrated infotainment systems that allow drivers and passengers to use their cellphones hands-free while operating Ford vehicles. According to the complaint, as part of this design, the infotainment system automatically downloads, copies, and indefinitely stores the call logs and text messages of any cellphone connected to it. If text messages or call logs are deleted from a cellphone, the vehicle nevertheless retains the communications on the vehicle’s on-board memory, even after the cellphone is disconnected. Vehicle owners cannot access or delete their personal information once it has been stored."
Ford's response to the complaint (lawsuit) was not to refute the facts but to assert that you suffer no injury as a result of them downloading your text messages & call logs
Old thread, new update:
"Ford manufactures and sells automobiles with integrated infotainment systems that allow drivers and passengers to use their cellphones hands-free while operating Ford vehicles. According to the complaint, as part of this design, the infotainment system automatically downloads, copies, and indefinitely stores the call logs and text messages of any cellphone connected to it. If text messages or call logs are deleted from a cellphone, the vehicle nevertheless retains the communications on the vehicle’s on-board memory, even after the cellphone is disconnected. Vehicle owners cannot access or delete their personal information once it has been stored."
There aren't a lot of good reasons for mandatory heavy data collection. I'm nobody special and I can't listen in to a phone call that isn't intended for me.
Since the 2023s don’t have a seperate forum, I’ll post these here.
I was able to remove these fuses and had no adverse affects. However I believe there still may be some back door communications as I can load GPS maps around the world(unless they’re downloaded to the truck?)
My experience after pulling these has been
-no longer have a modem or esn number when looking in the menu
-gps has a red circle with a line through it. Vehicle location remains where I unplugged the fuse weeks ago however I could still load the maps themselves
-unable to load Wifi or find available networks
-911 assist is unavailable
-connected vehicle menu attempts to load up but quits on its own and goes back to the previous screen
This is a great thread.
I am working for 100% RF free truck. The center sync screen to me is nothing more than a big clock that shows a radio station.
On My 23 XL I found and removed both same fuses the first day I got it. My results are:
-compass quit so hopefully that killed GPS.
-no modem info-unsure if Cell RF is really killed. I would like to be 100% sure.
-it still finds wifi networks.
Yesterday I dug into the back seat and found something similar to pictures shown in this thread. I disconnected every connector. No changes, still finds wifi.
Now there is strong consideration in my thinking to remove the top antennas from the truck. Find the WIFI antenna and physically disconnect it. Physically disconnect the mic. Find and investigate disconnecting bluetooth hardware.
I would like to do this with out the use of wire cutters if possible so I am walking this slowly. However in the end wire cutters are a friend of mine too.
Both roof antennas unplug under the headliner / behind the C pillars. There’s also an in-line connection under the front jump seat / console I believe.
Both roof antennas unplug under the headliner / behind the C pillars. There’s also an in-line connection under the front jump seat / console I believe.
one of these days I will get my act together and get my truck into a workshop, drop the the headliner, disconnect the two antennas, take them out and replace with VHF radio antennas connected to copper wires acting as ground plane.
one of these days I will get my act together and get my truck into a workshop, drop the the headliner, disconnect the two antennas, take them out and replace with VHF radio antennas connected to copper wires acting as ground plane.
Thanks for the idea Two
That is even more motivation for me to move forward with my madness. I can hook up my Ranger 2950 with a nonmag mount antenna deal. Good use for the uplifted switches and holes in aluminum roof.
Both roof antennas unplug under the headliner / behind the C pillars. There’s also an in-line connection under the front jump seat / console I believe.
Thanks. Number9. I think I have to get better tools or better info on how to disable the headliner. There is info on replacing the pods, I have failed to find info on a nondestructive way to take down the headliner.
S
Last edited by 6.8L_V8_DRW; Nov 12, 2023 at 07:16 PM.
Thanks. Number9. I think I have to get better tools or better info on how to disable the headliner. There is info on replacing the pods, I have failed to find info on a nondestructive way to take down the headliner.
check this video, they did a pretty good job of explaining the process for trucks up to 22. I hope 23 isn't too different.
one of these days I will get my act together and get my truck into a workshop, drop the the headliner, disconnect the two antennas, take them out and replace with VHF radio antennas connected to copper wires acting as ground plane.
Perhaps I don't understand something here. Aluminum makes a good ground plane.
Perhaps I don't understand something here. Aluminum makes a good ground plane.
ideally the mount should be in the center of the roof, which the two cellular antennas are not. For VHF I never installed that far back on a surface so it remains to be seen what is needed to get a good radiation pattern.
than again, if the headliner is already down then it may be easier to just drill a new hole for NMO mount smack in the center of the roof and get it over with.
ideally the mount should be in the center of the roof, which the two cellular antennas are not. For VHF I never installed that far back on a surface so it remains to be seen what is needed to get a good radiation pattern.
than again, if the headliner is already down then it may be easier to just drill a new hole for NMO mount smack in the center of the roof and get it over with.
The headliner comes down without tools. Just peel the gasket away. Avoid the airbags. IIRC the stamped grooves in the roof include one right in the center so you can't be exactly symmetrical. For entry into garages you may prefer to favor the drivers side to make the antenna easier to remove when entering a garage.
You won't find honest people involved in this data collection and management. I'm nobody special and I can't listen in to a phone call that isn't intended for me.
Data mining is a huge business. Just the US data mining market is expected to exceed $1 Billion revenue in 2023.
Where you go, who you call, what you look at online, what you buy, it’s all marketing gold.
The apps that give you something free, like 50 cents a gallon off of the pump price, they sell your data. You’re the product.
Just on Facebook alone, the estimated value of your personal data is $2 per user per month.
Is this business honest? Ethical? Moral? No, I agree with you, it’s slimy.
I am still working slowly on my RF delete project. Since disconnecting the telmetrics device behind rear pass seat plus the gps and compass are inop. SO i needed to get a gps. Here is my solution I went with. I have 2 spots to mount to and will post my final picture. It is been a weird item to get. I like the blue to match the XL blue dash so I was picky.
The aluminum body and plastic all over the interior only whacks up about 10 degrees on the compass, it will not be a bad adjustment,
