There is no universal “stop sharing” switch in a connected car. To reduce collection and sharing, review two places: the vehicle’s infotainment privacy or connectivity menus and the automaker’s app or online account. Then check every third-party service paired with the car. The labels, available controls, and effects differ by make, model, model year, country, and service.
Start by identifying which data categories you can control—such as precise location, driving behavior, diagnostics, or connected services—and read the effect of each choice before saving it. Some settings stop sharing, some stop collection, and some only disable a feature that uses the data.
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What your connected car may be collecting
Modern vehicles can transmit far more than a vehicle-identification number or a service reminder. The Federal Trade Commission’s May 2024 connected-car privacy discussion describes categories that may include:
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- Geolocation: precise or approximate information about where the vehicle travels.
- Telematics and usage: speed, trip details, braking, acceleration, mileage, charging or fuel activity, and other driving signals.
- Biometric information: data from systems that recognize or infer characteristics about a person, where a vehicle or service offers those functions.
- Video and in-cabin information: camera or sensor data, depending on the equipment and service.
- Diagnostics and device data: fault codes, system status, software details, and information exchanged with a phone or account.
The exact categories, purposes, retention periods, and recipients vary. A setting that limits one category does not prove that every other category has stopped being collected or shared.
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Before changing a privacy setting
Record the vehicle and service details
Write down the make, model, model year, country of registration, and the services you use. Include the automaker’s mobile app, roadside assistance, navigation or entertainment subscriptions, charging services, usage-based insurance, employer programs, and any app that connects through the vehicle.
Privacy controls are often different between model years and regions. Use the current owner’s manual and the manufacturer’s current privacy page for your exact vehicle rather than relying on a menu path from another model.
Decide which functions you must keep
Make a short list of features you rely on, such as remote locking, climate control, vehicle location, emergency assistance, navigation traffic, driver profiles, charging status, or remote diagnostics. You can then judge each toggle by its real effect instead of turning off every connection blindly.
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Back up information you want to retain
Changing a privacy permission can affect profiles, saved destinations, preferences, or account links. If the infotainment system offers an export or synchronization option, use it before making broad changes. Do not assume that a later factory reset will restore information that was never synchronized.
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How to turn off data sharing in the car
Exact wording varies, but the following process works as a starting point for most connected vehicles.
- Park safely and open the vehicle’s settings. Use the infotainment touchscreen while the vehicle is parked, or follow the owner’s manual if the manufacturer restricts privacy changes while driving.
- Look for the relevant menu. Common labels include Privacy, Data Sharing, Connectivity, Permissions, and Connected Services. Some systems place these under Settings, System, Safety, or an account profile.
- Open each data category rather than using a single master switch. Look separately for location, driving behavior or usage, diagnostics, voice or camera features, and connected-service permissions when those choices are offered.
- Read the description beside the control. Determine whether the option affects collection, use, sharing with another company, or only a particular feature. Note any warning about emergency services, navigation, remote controls, profiles, or diagnostics.
- Change one permission at a time. Save the change and record the date and the setting you selected. This makes it easier to identify which feature stopped working and to reverse one decision without restoring every permission.
- Confirm the result. Reopen the menu to verify that the new state was saved. Check the related app or service later; an in-car choice may not update an independent provider’s account.
Examples of manufacturer-specific labels
These examples illustrate the kind of controls you may see; they are not universal instructions. Tesla states that owners can enable or disable data sharing from the vehicle touchscreen. Lucid describes a path labeled Connectivity Settings > Data Sharing Permissions. Your vehicle may use different names or expose fewer choices.
Review the automaker’s app and online account
A car’s touchscreen is only one control point. Sign in to the automaker’s official app and web account and inspect the privacy, connected-services, and account-permission pages.
- Open account privacy settings. Look for controls covering vehicle data, location, diagnostics, personalization, analytics, and communications.
- Check service enrollment. Review driving-score programs, usage-based insurance, fleet or employer programs, roadside plans, and other services that may receive driving information.
- Review app permissions and shared users. Remove former drivers, household members, dealers, fleet administrators, or other accounts that should no longer see the vehicle.
- Use available access or deletion tools. If the account provides a request for a copy of your data or a deletion request, read the scope and exceptions before submitting it. Keep the confirmation for your records.
- Inspect subscriptions separately. Cancelling a subscription may stop a service from receiving new data, but it may not erase information already retained under that service’s terms.
Some manufacturers distinguish between permission to collect data and permission to share it. Treat those as separate decisions. A “share” opt-out may still allow data to be collected for vehicle operation, safety, security, billing, or diagnostics.
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Understand what each control covers
| Control or data category | Where it may appear | What to verify | Possible effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Precise location | Vehicle privacy menu, automaker account, navigation or emergency-service settings | Whether the setting stops collection, sharing, or only location history | Vehicle-finding, navigation traffic, geofencing, emergency support, or remote features may be reduced |
| Driving behavior or usage | Automaker account, insurance or driver-score enrollment, vehicle permissions | Which trips or drivers are included and which recipient receives the data | Driver scores, personalized feedback, insurance programs, or fleet reporting may stop updating |
| Diagnostics | Vehicle connectivity settings and service-account controls | Whether essential fault reporting is separated from optional analytics | Remote troubleshooting may be limited; warning messages on the vehicle may still operate |
| Connected services | Infotainment permissions, app account, individual service accounts | Whether the control covers the automaker only or also an outside provider | Remote lock, climate control, charging status, voice assistants, media, or navigation integrations may stop |
| Profiles and personalization | Driver-profile and account settings | Whether profile synchronization depends on data sharing | Profile sign-in, restoration, or preference synchronization may fail |
The table describes common relationships, not a promise about a particular model. The vehicle’s warning text and the service’s terms control the actual outcome.
Third-party apps can keep collecting data
An app paired with the car can operate under its own privacy policy and permissions. This includes navigation, entertainment, charging, insurance, fleet, voice-assistant, and smart-home integrations. Turning off a vehicle-level sharing option may not revoke a token or account connection that you granted directly to that provider.
For each connected service:
- Open the service’s account settings and remove the vehicle or revoke its access.
- Delete the service’s saved vehicle, trip history, location history, or driver profile where the service provides those controls.
- Check phone permissions for Bluetooth, location, contacts, microphone, notifications, and local-network access.
- Review whether another driver’s account is still paired through the service.
- Read the provider’s deletion and retention terms; the automaker cannot necessarily delete information held by an independent company.
What you may lose when you limit sharing
Privacy choices are reversible in many vehicles, but the immediate trade-off is model- and service-specific. Lucid warns that changing data-sharing permissions can affect profile sign-in and restoration, PIN resets, mobile-app interaction, and some remote diagnostics. Other vehicles may warn about navigation, emergency assistance, charging controls, or software services instead.
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How do I stop my car from sharing my data?
Use a layered approach:
- Turn off optional location, driving-behavior, diagnostics, and connected-service sharing in the vehicle, if those controls exist.
- Apply the matching privacy choices in the automaker’s app and web account.
- Leave or disable optional driver-score, insurance, fleet, and personalization programs you do not want.
- Revoke access from every third-party app and delete its stored vehicle or trip data where possible.
- Submit available access or deletion requests to the automaker and each independent provider.
- Recheck the settings after software updates, account changes, a service visit, or adding a new driver.
This reduces optional sharing but may not eliminate all vehicle data processing. A manufacturer may still process information needed for vehicle operation, security, billing, legal compliance, safety, or a service you deliberately keep enabled. The available exceptions and rights depend on your vehicle, service, and jurisdiction.
United States: what the GM and OnStar order changes
In January 2026, the FTC announced a finalized order involving GM and OnStar. The order is specific to those companies and covered connected-vehicle data in the United States; it is not a universal rule for every automaker.
For the order’s 20-year duration, subject to limited exceptions, the companies must:
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- Provide a way for U.S. consumers to request a copy of their data and seek deletion.
- Enable disabling precise-geolocation collection when the vehicle has the necessary technology.
- Provide a way to opt out of geolocation and driver-behavior collection, with limited exceptions.
- Observe a five-year ban on disclosing covered data to consumer reporting agencies.
The order does not create a single privacy menu for all cars, and it does not mean that every vehicle or service offers identical controls. If you own an affected vehicle, follow the current instructions supplied by the companies and read the stated exceptions.
Prepare a car before selling or transferring it
Privacy cleanup is part of a proper handover. Complete these steps before the buyer, transferee, dealer, or new driver takes control:
- Remove personal profiles. Delete driver names, saved addresses, home and work locations, contacts, call logs, messages, media accounts, garage-door integrations, and stored navigation destinations.
- Unpair devices. Remove phones, watches, keys, digital keys, and Bluetooth devices from the vehicle and from the automaker’s account.
- Factory-reset the infotainment system. Use the manufacturer’s reset option if available. A reset may erase local data but does not automatically delete information already held by the automaker or third-party providers.
- Disconnect the automaker account and app. Remove the vehicle from your account, transfer ownership through the official process, and revoke access for other users.
- Cancel or transfer subscriptions. Review remote-service plans, charging accounts, roadside assistance, insurance programs, toll services, and media subscriptions.
- Submit deletion requests. Ask the automaker and connected services what data can be deleted and retain confirmation of the request.
The FTC’s August 2018 vehicle-transfer guidance also recommends removing stored personal information and paired devices before a vehicle changes hands. Follow the current manufacturer procedure as well, because account-transfer requirements vary.
When a privacy toggle is missing or does not work
The menu is not present
Confirm the model year and region in the owner’s manual. Some permissions appear only after a connected-services account is activated, while others are managed exclusively online. A dealer or support representative can tell you whether the vehicle’s hardware and software support the requested control.
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The switch returns to its old position
Check whether the vehicle is online, signed in to the correct owner account, and fully updated. Save the setting again while parked, then verify it in both the car and the app. If multiple drivers use the vehicle, another account may have administrator privileges.
A feature stopped working
Read the warning associated with the permission you changed. Restore only that specific setting if you need the feature, and leave unrelated optional permissions disabled. If the warning involves emergency or safety services, contact the manufacturer before experimenting further.
A third party still shows trips or location
Revoke the integration in the third party’s account, remove the phone permission, and submit a deletion request directly to that provider. A vehicle-level toggle cannot necessarily control data already copied into an independent service.
Privacy-setting checklist
- Have you recorded the exact make, model, model year, country, and connected services?
- Did you inspect both the vehicle menu and the automaker’s app or website?
- Did you distinguish collection controls from sharing or opt-out controls?
- Did you review location, driving behavior, diagnostics, profiles, and connected services separately?
- Did you read the feature-impact warning before saving each change?
- Did you revoke third-party integrations and phone permissions?
- Did you save confirmation of access or deletion requests?
- Will you recheck permissions after an update, service visit, ownership change, or new integration?
The most reliable strategy is selective rather than absolute: disable optional categories you do not need, keep only the services whose benefits justify their data use, and verify every independent account connected to the vehicle.
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