How do these things send the position? Don't they need their own cellular connection for that?
What does this button do? – My new car has a mysterious and undocumented switch
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Re: What does this button do? – My new car has a mysterious and undocumented switch
#12The switch is probably for tax reasons, to record whether you’re making a business vs personal trip. Personal trips go towards the 500 km allowance before the car is seen as indirect salary and should be taxed as such. Setting it to personal might also disable the tracking for privacy reasons.
Re: What does this button do? – My new car has a mysterious and undocumented switch
#13That was an interesting read
Re: What does this button do? – My new car has a mysterious and undocumented switch
#14I wonder if it’s a tracking off switch or a panic button? I used to work for a fleet tracking SaaS, and some customers with unionised workforces needed a way to disable tracking, and panic buttons were common too (although less so in Europe).
What would a panic button do in this context?
Re: What does this button do? – My new car has a mysterious and undocumented switch
#15At first glance this reminded me of some Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor models which had similar unlabeled buttons. One would disable all exterior lights, including brake lights, for going into stealth/surveillance mode. An adjacent button was used to be able to remove the key and keep the engine running, while preventing the car from being shifted out of park until the key was inserted again. I haven't seen either feature re-introduced in the newer Explorers or Fusions though.
Re: What does this button do? – My new car has a mysterious and undocumented switch
#16While you do own the hardware, you probably don’t own the data, licenses, and software in the SIM so you might not be entitled to the data it transmits once it hits the carriers network.
It might be your smartphone, but all the data it collects, including recording audio and video is now mine, when I send it to my server. Don't you dare tamper with or even look at it!
(When did crazy things like this start becoming a real thing?)
Re: What does this button do? – My new car has a mysterious and undocumented switch
#17How do these things send the position? Don't they need their own cellular connection for that?
From TFA: and “can I get free data from the SIM card embedded in the device that I now technically own?”
Re: What does this button do? – My new car has a mysterious and undocumented switch
#18I think I'll pwess... the wed one.
Re: What does this button do? – My new car has a mysterious and undocumented switch
#19> “can I get free data from the SIM card embedded in the device that I now technically own?” That seems like the next-most-interesting question now that you've determined what the device is. Possibly followed closely by "can I use that free-to-me data in a fun way that might teach the people who installed the SIM to deactivate their devices when they sell them?" i.e. Could you send and receive enough on the connectio…
Even though the SIM was part of the car they bought, the SIM's contract is not in their name which means using the contract would be theft.
Re: What does this button do? – My new car has a mysterious and undocumented switch
#20At first glance this reminded me of some Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor models which had similar unlabeled buttons. One would disable all exterior lights, including brake lights, for going into stealth/surveillance mode. An adjacent button was used to be able to remove the key and keep the engine running, while preventing the car from being shifted out of park until the key was inserted again. I haven't seen…
> … used to be able to remove the key and keep the engine running, while preventing the car from being shifted out of park …
I’m pretty sure (not 100%) that new cars with contactless keys have this feature by default. You can get out (with the key) and leave it running, but the shifter won’t work until you return with the key.