How Smart Owners Are Pulling Hidden TRACKING Features From Ford, Chevrolet, & Toyota

In limited situations, Ford may collect a vehicle's location regardless of its location settings. That sentence is in Ford's own privacy notice, and it took effect this July. Then, on October 16th, Montana's attorney general sued GM and OnStar. Ford, Chevrolet, and Toyota all offer some kind of off switch for the cellular box built into their vehicles. This video reads the paperwork behind each one: the terms of use, the privacy notices, a federal order, and the state cases still moving. Then it follows what owners on enthusiast forums reported after they stopped trusting the switch and cut the module off themselves, including what it cost them. The countdown runs three brands, and the order has nothing to do with which module is hardest to reach. This is reporting on public documents and owner accounts, not a removal guide. Results vary by model year and trim. Sources are below. Subscribe for Ford's answers to Montana the day they become public:    / @themotortruth   Tell us in the comments: what year and model is in your driveway, and which asterisk did you find in its paperwork? SOURCES Ford privacy notice — location collected regardless of settings, effective July 1: https://www.ford.com/help/privacy/ Bloomberg Law — Montana sues GM over sale of driver data: https://news.bgov.com/privacy-and-dat... Toyota Connected Services Terms of Use — DCM on by default at delivery: https://www.toyota.com/content/dam/to... Toyota Connected Services Privacy Notice — "certain" data, retention, lender location requests: https://www.toyota.com/content/dam/to... Insurance Journal — RAV4 owner sues Toyota and Progressive over driving data: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news... CarComplaints — judge sends Toyota data case to arbitration: https://www.carcomplaints.com/news/20... 4Runners.com — owners disable the DCM and lose the hands-free microphone: https://www.4runners.com/threads/how-... 4Runner6G Forum — owners cut power to or unplug the DCM: https://www.4runner6g.com/forum/threa... Tacoma World — pulling the DCM stops key fob remote start: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/d... RAV4World — two 2022 RAV4 hybrid owners report no-start after the pull: https://www.rav4world.com/threads/201... Lexus tech tip (NHTSA) — microphone circuit runs through the DCM: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/201... Ford Authority — Ford's January 2025 statement on connectivity and data brokers: https://fordauthority.com/2025/01/for... Verisk consumer page — which automakers' driving data it held: https://fcra.verisk.com Motor1 — Ford responds to F-150 owner's insurance video: https://www.motor1.com/news/793649/fo... California Privacy Protection Agency — Ford fined $375,703 over opt-out friction: https://privacy.ca.gov/2026/03/ford-t... PPC Land — Montana's 28-request demand to Ford: https://ppc.land/montana-subpoenas-fo... CivicXI Forum — 2020 F-150 owner on cutting modem power: https://www.civicxi.com/forum/threads... F-150 Gen 14 Forum — the modem fuse varies by year and trim: https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/threa... FTC, January 2025 — complaint and proposed order against GM and OnStar: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/... FTC, January 14, 2026 — final order against GM and OnStar: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/... Senators Wyden and Markey — July 2024 letter on GM's bundled consent: https://www.wyden.senate.gov/imo/medi... California Attorney General — $12.75 million penalty against GM: https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-release... Washington Times — Texas sues GM over driver data, August 2024: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/... Tahoe Yukon Forum — Silverado and Tahoe owners on the OnStar modem delete: https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threa...