Spying on you?

[ThunderPigeon]

FAT32 partition limit was 32Gb for years. Is 2Tb for some editions of Windows now. 4.8Gb file will fit fine. Car requires FAT32.

You are confusing maximum partition size with maximum file size. Max file size for FAT32 is 4GB. In the case of an 8GB thumb drive 32GB vs 2TB partition size is irrelevant.

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[Nanook]

You are confusing maximum partition size with maximum file size. Max file size for FAT32 is 4GB. In the case of an 8GB thumb drive 32GB vs 2TB partition size is irrelevant.

DOH! Yup. I did indeed miss that. Thank you for the clarification

 

[Zone47]

I pulled my TCU out.

Those clips were tight, I thought I was going to break one or two of them but it finally come off. Wow, what a dinky speaker!! I lightly greased the snap points to make it easier next time to remove.

So I removed the TCU and then wrapped the connectors inside a triple folded sock that grips them and then should eliminate rattling. Hopefully it doesn't get hot down there bursting the sock into flames.

With no phone connected to the car, Wi Fi off, Honda firmware downloads turned off and the TCU out, hopefully I am out of the data stealing loop for a while.

 

[blueroadster]

I pulled my TCU out.

Sweet...Over time, you will be glad that you removed it.

With no phone connected to the car, Wi Fi off, Honda firmware downloads turned off and the TCU out, hopefully I am out of the data stealing loop for a while.

Sound like you are good to go on severing the vehicle's outbound communications.

 

[zumbooruk]

Those clips were tight, I thought I was going to break one or two of them but it finally come off. Wow, what a dinky speaker!! I lightly greased the snap points to make it easier next time to remove.

So I removed the TCU and then wrapped the connectors inside a triple folded sock that grips them and then should eliminate rattling. Hopefully it doesn't get hot down there bursting the sock into flames.

I like your idea of lightly greasing the snaps, thanks!

I used self-fusing silicone tape... but I like the way you think!

 

[AZCWTypeR]

I pulled my TCU this week after turning on data sharing, connecting wi-fi, downloading updates to the entertainment interface and GPS maps, disconnecting wifi and data sharing.
It only took about 1/2 hour, including bundling the loose connectors. Easy enough to reconnect the TCU for future updates (3 years of free GPS map updates). My map updates included AZ and NM.
Access was easiest by sitting on the front edge of the passenger seat. Every feature I use still works as before.

 

[Zone47]

Sweet...Over time, you will be glad that you removed it.


Sound like you are good to go on severing the vehicle's outbound communications.

Just want to say; thanks for all your hard work in sharing how to disable the Honda Type R personal data from being exploited. That's a big deal and it's sad that it even happens. Now if we could just dumb down these smart phones, but that's for another day...

Off topic: Nice 64 Impala! earlier in the thread I'm an old 60s Chevy buff as well! It's such a different sensory experience from the modern stuff, especially the growling roar of the Rat motor big blocks.

 

[PNEUMA]

I finally did the disconnect today. I’ve been running with data sharing OFF, but today I severed the connection.
Only took 10 minutes to mask the surround of the central dash speaker panel, mask the tip of my plastic trim tool, pop the panel up, remove the two plugs to the TCU, wrap them with thin bubble wrap (it’s what I had) and tuck them out of the way to the right side, peel the masking tape, and pop the center panel back down. Super easy. Dont feel as if I need any OTA updates, since the car runs perfectly.

 

[jtlctr]

Honda must be wondering why all these FL5s are dropping off their radar!?

 

[Zone47]

Something I found out the hard way.

If you remove your TCU, make sure your sharing data is set to off, and then don't touch the darn thing ever again! If you turn it back on, you won't be able to turn it off again. It will give you a message: "Unable to change the settings because the network is invalid" I was toggling around and accidently turned it back on for a second, then I couldn't turn it back off until I plugged the TCU back in and browsed out to settings where it allowed me to turn it off again.

Honda is pretty grabby with the data thing.

 

[PNEUMA]

Thank you for that information.

 

[SilverRocket]

I won't lie, one of my original disappointments with the Type S was that it didn't get the Log R feature. I always found that curious. After reading through this thread and seeing how the driver score is intimately integrated into that feature, I am ecstatic that someone at team Acura didn't put in the TCU. I'd be willing to bet that was an active decision.

Different stroke for different folks but these cars are not meant to drive slow. If you want to drive like the insurance companies hope you do (which is not necessarily safe, example penalized for accelerating fast onto the highway with a short on-ramp), you should be in a Civic Si or even a base model for that matter.

One angle that has come up on the Integra forum but wasn't really answered, does connecting your phone with Android Auto or Apple CP allow a back door to Honda Corp.?

For instance, you can connect your phone via Bluetooth and have your phone essentially display the nav app and/or play music but there's also wifi connection where you punch in an SSID and password directly into the head unit and the car connects that way directly to the internet.

I imagine the people ripping out their TCU have not setup a wifi connection but not even connecting a cellphone is next level.

 

[AZCWTypeR]

Your phone is always spying on you. It doesn't need the car connected. I won't be surprised if Google and other Apps sell speed data to insurance companies. Airplane Mode disables most of them. I'm fine not talking on the phone while driving and I normally know we're I'm going without GPS.

 

[SilverRocket]

Your phone is always spying on you. It doesn't need the car connected. I won't be surprised if Google and other Apps sell speed data to insurance companies. Airplane Mode disables most of them. I'm fine not talking on the phone while driving and I normally know we're I'm going without GPS.

Totally agree, if you really need to be incognito you shouldn't even carry a cell phone but it's the game of plausible deniability. See if a car reports the data, sure you can say I wasn't driving but ultimately as the car owner you're insurance payment will reflect that because it's associated with the car.

A cell phone is different, you can say you were a passenger in a friend of a friend's car, or even that the phone was lost....there's no way to confirm the travel data it picked up was you. That's why IMHO, even if Waze was selling data which guaranteed they are, they'd have a fairly hard time confirming who it's associated with on an individual level. You'd need to be a criminal with active police involvement for them to build a case. Just speculation, I could be wrong.

Anyway, to me Google is more interested where you go, not how fast you get there so I live with that privacy tradeoff because having Waze for speed traps is much more useful than the loss so that google can serve me a McDonald's ad because it's next door to where I am.

 

[blueroadster]

I won't lie, one of my original disappointments with the Type S was that it didn't get the Log R feature. I always found that curious. After reading through this thread and seeing how the driver score is intimately integrated into that feature, I am ecstatic that someone at team Acura didn't put in the TCU. I'd be willing to bet that was an active decision.

I really enjoy the Log R feature. With the TCU removed and when driving, the only Log R feature that appears to no longer function is the recording/collection of driver scoring which is perfectly fine by me. With the TCU removed, you are eliminating the vehicle's cellular connection related to Vehicle to Cloud (V2C) and Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I) communications meaning that you would no longer be able to locate your vehicle on a map, have the car automatically contact emergency services in the event of a crash, and the dealer cannot remotely connect to your car if you need to bring the vehicle in for service.

One angle that has come up on the Integra forum but wasn't really answered, does connecting your phone with Android Auto or Apple CP allow a back door to Honda Corp.?

Yes, if you have the HondaLink app installed on your phone. Essentially, you are providing the vehicle with an alternative communications link back to the mothership where the VIN is also transmitted. The amount of data collected and shared however, pales in comparison to that collected and shared by the TCU that is connected directly to the vehicle's CAN bus. Regarding HondaLink, the manufacturer makes these privacy claims WRT use of the app in the App Store:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hondalink/id750465030

In contrast, Hondata claims to not collect data from you regarding the use of their app:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hondata-complete/id1458419589

For instance, you can connect your phone via Bluetooth and have your phone essentially display the nav app and/or play music but there's also wifi connection where you punch in an SSID and password directly into the head unit and the car connects that way directly to the internet.

I imagine the people ripping out their TCU have not setup a wifi connection but not even connecting a cellphone is next level.

Big difference as mentioned previously is that a phone connection is not connected directly to the CAN bus like the TCU is. For me, I removed my vehicle's TCU but connect my phone (no HondaLink app installed therefore no app collection and reporting of my vehicle's VIN) on occasion and as follows via:

• USB for recharging, hands-free calling, use of a different navigation system, etc.
• Bluetooth when needed and after plugging in the Hondata FlashPro.

Direct vehicle connectivity via Wifi is disabled and never used.

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