FordPass is watching you! Reporting your speed, G-forces, etc.

[Tall Timbers]

I really don't mind if they want to collect data on my vehicle while I'm driving it. I'm a careful driver. I pretty much drive the speed limit except when traffic flow is going way over the limit and I feel safer going a little faster...

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[AmazingSieve]

I honestly love this thread because it reminds me the best gift to internal surveillance is the cell phone and that the person almost undoubtably made this post on one.

You carry it with you everywhere. You text and talk to all the people you know with it. It’s constantly tracking and documenting your location.

With Ford your cars info will be documented sure but it’ll be buried in somewhere in some spreadsheet and no one will ever really give one care that ID#….drove this many miles in one month. And that data will likely be further buried in whatever category your car is segmented into.

Anyone who does research can tell you, genuinely, how uninteresting and inconsequential one entry is.

The kind of info they do collect is used to make cars better. I’d happily bet everything that Ford doesn’t care about your personal life and is entirely unaware of you at all.

 

[BroncMan]

Beware of "FordPass". Our salesman really pushed it, and now I know why. By using it you give Ford permission to Hoover up a LOT of data. Data that could be used against you by law enforcement; your MVA/DMV; your insurance company; and/or Ford.

https://www.ford.com/support/how-tos/fordpass/manage-my-fordpass-account/fordpass-terms-and-conditions/

"Information We Collect:"

"Vehicle Location: Non-precise or precise location/GPS information, including current vehicle location, travel direction, speed, charging locations used (if applicable), and information about the environment where the vehicle is operated (such as weather, road segment data, trail and road surface conditions and geometry, traffic signs, and other surroundings, may be collected from the vehicle in connection with location-based functions of FordPass. Vehicle Location may also be derived from IP address.
Driving Data (may also be referred to as Driving Characteristics and Behavior): Information about how the vehicle is operated and used (such as speed, use of accelerator, brakes, steering, seat belts, etc.)."

"Audio/Visual (may also be referred to as Connected Voice Data, Digital Assistant, or Ford Assistant): Voice commands and other utterances captured when the vehicle’s voice recognition system is in “active listen” state."

"...name, email address, photo, street address, telephone number, credit card, Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), and vehicle service records."

~

Supposedly, the data transmission and collection can be stopped by doing a "Master Reset":
https://www.ford.com/support/how-tos/sync/sync-3/how-do-i-perform-a-sync-3-master-reset/
https://www.ford.com/support/how-tos/fordpass/manage-my-fordpass-account/how-do-i-remove-a-vehicle-from-the-fordpass-app/

Performing a master reset
Start your vehicle. Ensure your vehicle is in park and running, not in accessory mode.
Press Settings on your vehicle's SYNC screen.
Choose General.
Scroll down and press Master Reset.
A message confirming that all system settings will be erased and reset to factory defaults will appear.
Press Continue.
A Resetting to factory defaults message will appear, the system will turn off and the screen will go blank. It may take a few minutes for the system to reset and resume normal operation.

~

I tried to do a reset earlier, but when I tapped "Settings" nothing happened. There was no "General" button. I'm open to any 'pro tips'.

Never signed up for it! At the dealer ship the sales person was going to do it but I couldn't remember my phone password - thank dog! What is it good for anyways ? ... to look up your tire pressure when you are in bed? ... all nonsense!!

 

[MaxVelocity]

Anyone ever watch the show Person of Interest?

I use Fordpass a lot for starting the vehicle in the winter. Another feature I like is logging my maintenance with the ability to upload receipts.

 

[GCross762]

Quote in earlier post.
"Yes, smartphones typically report location, but a) that can be disabled, b) that is not in the same league as speed; G-forces from braking, accelerating, and steering, terrain, etc, etc., and c) 2 wrongs don't make a right."

As a Engineering Tech this data is not to spy but to see what happened when a DTC comes on. This data is used by engineers to find out why and what went wrong.
Its funny to see people always look at the negative and think big brother is after them. This is not the case. Its for diagnosis and improving the quality and improvements of a given issue.
For an example ...
Once we seen an issue a customer had with his trans with heavy braking and turning left according to the report, this was on a separate product line not a BS.
This issue was determined not by a customers car but having the trans sent to us and giving them a replacement unit. That replacement unit fixed the issue and we put the original trans in our test car that had a lot of instrumentation.
One engineer said if cars had this type of info in their cars we could look at the data and diagnose it better without having to possibly replacing the trans.

End result was a bad filter sealing improperly and when turning left on acceleration, not breaking, the oil level would slosh and the bad seal was exposed to air and the seal would allow air to get sucked up and cause shift issues, a shift flare with a harsh shift.

So in short we are not spying on you but trying to get the most data we can to improve the product and help diagnosis for the tech to have the opportunity to fix it right the first time without heavy cost to the manufacturer.

 

[Flash]

It has to be enabled in FordPass and the default is not enabled.

Go to Driving Data>My Journeys>Latest Summary>Journey Recording

Hit the radio button for OFF and journeys will not be recorded

That's the way mine came from the start.

 

[Escape2Bronco]

It has to be enabled in FordPass and the default is not enabled.

Go to Driving Data>My Journeys>Latest Summary>Journey Recording

Hit the radio button for OFF and journeys will not be recorded

That's the way mine came from the start.

Yup, mine too.

 

[Caliope]

The info is not reported to your insurance company. If it were than I would not have to have the cube from State Farm stuck to my windshield to prove that I only put 4k per year on my daily driver. I get a pretty good discount on my premiums this way.

 

[Brissdenice]

I didn't read all the comments but I suggest to anybody who's interested about cars technology and personal data to read a book written by Matthew B. Crawford, called why we drive.
Have a good day.

 

[bluesoftail]

Seems like a paranoid screed to me actually.

I agree, if you’re worried about big brother then you better ditch your cell phone and Alexa etc.

 

[Osco]

If you think Ford is the only one doing this think again. Gforce data is used very frequently in crash reconstruction so its not all nefarious. As everything becomes more interconnected more and more everyday items can track you, almost as well as your cell phone. Your thermostat tracks when you're home and away. Your washer dryer and dishwasher track how frequently you use them and how much water/energy you use while using them, retailers track how often and time of day you walk into to their stores. Its a data driven world we live in now and its only going to get worse. I do get protecting ones privacy, heck I'm on a duck duck go browser...but I also have 4 google assistants in my house so you know, trade offs for convenience. I would just assume going forward if a device has any sort of internet capability, its tracking you and telling someone about it.

When SKYNET becomes self aware none of this will ever matter again.

 

[DebiHammel]

Everyone is watching you. Your smartphone watches you every minute of every day. Your Fitbit knows everywhere you've been. Apps and websites collect all kinds of data about you including what you click on and what you search for. The store WiFi you enable knows where you are in Target for example so they can analyze store patterns. Your grocery store bonus card knows all of your shopping habits. I could go on and on with examples, but my point is that FordPass isn't doing anything out of the ordinary. And while data about people is certainly a commodity that can be consumed by external companies, Ford could be using it to make their products better by understanding how people "use" it. Everyone always assumes the worst.

 

[Meanderthal]

I just wonder if/when this data would be used to deny a warranty claim. Of course you would never know that it was used for that purpose. I don't care that Ford knows where I went and when. If they use that information to determine that I was using my vehicle in an "unintended" fashion and deny a warranty claim, that is an issue for me. Yes, the "black box" is doing that in almost every vehicle but I think that only gets read after an accident (could be wrong on that).

 

[MJE]

I didn't read all the comments but I suggest to anybody who's interested about cars technology and personal data to read a book written by Matthew B. Crawford, called why we drive.
Have a good day.

Thanks for the reading suggestion! That should be an interesting read for sure. I’ve always viewed driving as a huge source of freedom. Honestly, perhaps it’s the modern day world we’re in, but I expected a treatise on the poor state of public transit & people being forced to drive rather than choosing to. That’s not what it sounds like this is though. From the description it reads more like a celebration of driving.

 

[VDOG]

Whether a person has something to 'hide' is beside the point. Ford (or any other mfr) has no right to collect data -- any data -- from their customers without their express written permission. Any data collection should be "opt in".

In this case the data is NOT anonymous, it is tied to each individual.




Any data collection/sharing should be opt in but you can thank congress for making the law that requires us to opt out.

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