Can I disable all data collection from my vehicle?

[RivianR1TinSFL]

Has anyone in the US done this: Can I disable all data collection from my vehicle?

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Recently, I reached out to Rivian support to ask what it would cost and they referred my question to my local service center who gave me step-by-step instructions on how to disable related privacy settings in the Settings menu of the infotainment system which I don't recall seeing before which I did, but then they said the following:

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I asked them what that would cost since that's what I originally wanted to know, but then the reply I got was the following:

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So, that made me wonder if this SC knows what they are talking about since they are *relatively new* and the on-line Rivian Privacy notice above clearly states that the SC must disable the eSIM for non-Canadian customers; otherwise, perhaps this DIY capability was pushed out in an OTA and they just haven't gotten around to updating the on-line Rivian Privacy clause.

Can anyone confirm the process one way or another?

Has anyone *proven* ZERO data is transmitted?

Nope. They had you at hello.

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[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

This reminds me of a story a senior IT tech I used to work with. He had to go out to a customer's house to troubleshoot issues they were having with their wifi.

Turns out this guy had essentially wrapped his house into a faraday cage, hence why no signals could propagate.
Spent his evenings on his porch with some type of spectrometer that saw 'EMI over the horizon' and swore they were watching him.

I'm all for privacy. VPNs, firewalls, I got em. But there's always that one person who wants to take it too far for naught.

Look OP, if you're *THAT*important that someone is watching you, they already know what they want to. If not, you're nobody, and by going out of you way to obscure yourself, you're actually making yourself more of a target. Sincerely, someone who knows things...

something something delete facebook, hit the gym and hire a lawyer or some such

The Cubans are frying his brain with microwave.

 

[Lester Green]

Have you tried wrapping your car in tin foil? It should match the one on your head

 

[portdirect]

Though I joked about it before - @Steve A. 's request is perfectly reasonable. There are many reasons that a person or company wants or need to have full control over the data.

Rivian like all modern EVs unfortunately are not showing themselves to be the best custodians of the PII data they collect. I'll provide one example of something that should be getting fixed very soon (if not already): They share all data via an undocumented 'private' API to companies like ABRP (and they have also been talking about sharing this with actual 3p orgs as well - or at least were in January/February of this year). This data is much more than you can see via the graphql API used by the App and tapped into via home-assistant etc. Included in this data is location *regardless* of preferences/mode of the vehicle is in - which provides several potential angles for abuse. It's exactly this kind of gap and liability that make me wonder what process is used when VIPs etc are now using R1's - and if any hardening has been done.

That said - I think we are now in the world that John Deere really kicked off - though somewhat under the radar. In these modern SDV's I think of it more as buying a both the hardware and a perpetual license to use the software driving it rather than actually purchasing the system outright. Lets just hope we don't get fisker'd, and/or find that there's some cert deep in the system waiting to expire

Let's look at Steve for a minute - he's self reported as being based in Maryland as a self employed software engineer. Steve - any carparks you are worried about continuously pumping data out of?. Sorry Steve - I couldn't resist, but wanted to highlight that it's more than just cooking crystal meth in your underpants or cheating on your wife that makes people think about this stuff.

Edit: all this is to say - Rivian's and many/most modern vehicles are probably not the right purchase choice for someone who wants or needs to care about this stuff. Physically disabling the LTE modem is also probably the right path to ensuring no undesired external comms occur.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Have you tried wrapping your car in tin foil? It should match the one on your head

Which brand though?

 

[Steve A.]

You will have to ask the service dept to disable the LTE module, or figure out where it is and do it yourself. Without wifi, you will not get updates. I don't think you can be off-grid with the R1 and still keep the vehicle up to date.

Well, I'll probably follow up with the SC to see if they would even disble the TCM or disconnect the cellular antenna, but if not I may ask for a written confirmation that Rivian cannot remotely access my R1S with the remote settings disabled.

That said, after researching some other threads here related to getting to the shark fin antenna, it doesn't sound like it's meant to be accessed easily and involves a glue gun and knife; see the following thread for details:

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/shark-fin-antenna-replacement-r1s.35941/post-666201

 

[Steve A.]

Scanned your ODBII recently?

Well, according to grok...

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To confirm that no data is being transferred remotely from a 1st-generation 2023 Rivian R1S, note that the vehicle's OBDII port uses an Ethernet-based diagnostic system rather than the standard CAN bus found in most vehicles. This means standard OBDII scanners or tools won't provide direct access to monitor or confirm remote data transmission status, as remote transfers occur via the vehicle's telematics control module (TCM) over cellular networks, separate from OBDII functionality. No publicly documented PIDs or diagnostic modes via OBDII exist for checking telematics activity in Rivian vehicles.​

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[Steve A.]

I’m sure most of you know this.
But if your car ever gets towed/Repo etc. the tow company can unlock your car I.e go through it and whatever without your approval. They do this through your financial company. Any financial company/lender has the software to unlock etc your vehicle. And at times, without ever notifying the owner.

Feels a little icky. But that’s what we get for buying EV/tech vehicles eh.

Obviously, a tow company can put any vehicle on a flatbed and take it w/ or w/o ever unlocking it.

That has nothing to do w/ monitoring your location in real-time or historically w/o a warrant which has to do w/ protecting your privacy rights.

 

[Steve A.]

I love the concept of the Liberty phone, but it is not ”Made in America” in the sense they are advertising it. If anything, it is the perfect example of how deep the hole is we have dug ourselves in reference to a secure supply chain.

There are major components of their phone that would have to come from China they don’t mention, and they simply suggest that chip origin isn’t that important after telling us how important it is to not source parts from those countries. OP has no more of a guarantee that phone is 100% secure and private than following the steps to disconnect their Rivian.

https://lunduke.locals.com/post/430...iberty-smartphone-even-though-i-love-the-idea

Once again, there are no *perfect* solutions, but suffice to say Purism has taken more steps than ANY OTHER manufacturer (foreign or domestic) to deliver privacy-focused mobile devices per its social purpose corporation mission enshrined in its articles of corporation which is the antithesis of surveilance capitalism practiced by other manufacturers.

The Why Purism? excerpt below summarizes Purism's privacy-focused differentiators.

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Our products are designed from the hardware on up to respect you and your digital life, they come with physical hardware kill switches for your camera and microphone, with all known hardware backdoors completely neutralized and disabled (Intel Management Engine), running a curated freedom-respecting operating system and software applications, for maximum protection. We put your security at the forefront, and our laptops and smartphones will never invade your privacy.​

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Sorry, but physical kill switches guarantee an owner can 100% disable remote access and data transmissiong from their devices; if only Rivain had included such a privacy-focused feature instead of merely a software based solution.

Sure. *Assembled in America* is more fitting which no other manufacturer can claim and they do offer Tamper-evident Firmware and Anti-interdiction Services which are also key differentiators.

 

[tbinmd]

Obviously, a tow company can put any vehicle on a flatbed and take it w/ or w/o ever unlocking it.

That has nothing to do w/ monitoring your location in real-time or historically w/o a warrant which has to do w/ protecting your privacy rights.

just like your cell carrier.

 

[Steve A.]

The sim card location is in a rack behind the back rest of the rear seat.

Do you mean the TCM?

 

[Steve A.]

Look OP, if you're *THAT*important that someone is watching you, they already know what they want to. If not, you're nobody, and by going out of you way to obscure yourself, you're actually making yourself more of a target. Sincerely, someone who knows things...

something something delete facebook, hit the gym and hire a lawyer or some such

Apparently, you didn't read all of my replies. Surveillance capitalism isn't about *watching* important people. It's about pwning EVERYONE's private data for profit at best and for control and influence at its worst. See China's social credit system for details.

And, deleting all your social media accounts esp. Facebook and Instagam are great privacy-focused low-hanging fruit.

Sincerely, someone who has spent 35+ years developing software and systems that analyze and exploit all kinds of data.

 

[Steve A.]

If you carry cell phone, use a credit card, go out in public you have no privacy.

Apparently, you missed my earlier reply regarding privacy-focused alternative phones. Scroll up.

 

[tbinmd]

Apparently, you missed my earlier reply regarding privacy-focused alternative phones. Scroll up.

no, I saw that. Doesn’t matter, your carrier is still collecting your location data. You can’t get away from that from any carrier. They can monitor where you are in real time.

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