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Tacoma6shift

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I saw this you tube video pop up on my feed about Toyota tacoma + other model and manufacturers putting trackers in truck / autos.

My first thought was like meh I call b.s on this so I went out to my truck to check & sure as shet there was one!! Crazy!

Check you trucks and autos!

2024 Tacoma You see things & say naw would never happen to me ... well 20260520_224049


2024 Tacoma You see things & say naw would never happen to me ... well 20260520_223929


2024 Tacoma You see things & say naw would never happen to me ... well 20260520_224235


2024 Tacoma You see things & say naw would never happen to me ... well 20260520_224411


2024 Tacoma You see things & say naw would never happen to me ... well WhatsApp Image 2026-05-20 at 11.09.57 PM


2024 Tacoma You see things & say naw would never happen to me ... well WhatsApp Image 2026-05-21 at 1.01.49 AM
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BLtheP

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It’s not for tracking you, it’s for theft tracking on the lot and the dealers are too lazy to remove them when they sell the vehicle. It’s BS but that’s all it is.
 
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Tacoma6shift

Tacoma6shift

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How do we know its just that ?
concern is the amount and type of data these things collect, and who actually has access to it. What if they sell the data? And even if they don’t… how many big companies don’teventually have a data breach these days?
 

BLtheP

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I’m not saying don’t remove it. I’ve found numerous trackers across all the vehicles I’ve bought, and I’ve removed all of them. But generally speaking, there are there for the tracking of inventory. They can also be used for finance departments of lenders who lend to questionable credit people to either disable the vehicle or find out where it is if they need to repo it.

I guess my only point is this is nothing new. Remove it and move on, it’s not a huge deal. They’ve been doing this for a long time. Some know, some don’t.
 

MJB4450

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Dealers not only use these kinds of devices for tracking their inventory, they also use them to monitor your mileage so they can contact you will sales pitches for service at the appropriate time. Usually the dealers that put some of these devices on will try to sell them to you at time of purchase. Their sales pitch is that with the appropriate app you can track where your kids go and to track your car if stolen. The problem with these things is that they also drain your battery and who knows who they sell your info to since so many dealerships don't miss a trick to make more money. Many years ago one of the ignition disabling devices, which I chose not to buy but was left in the vehicle, left me stranded when the cheap plastic disintegrated and the device fell apart. Since then I have always researched which dealers of whatever vehicle I was interested in did not install ANY aftermarket electronics and I bought from them. There is no need for an aftermarket alarm, Ignition disabling device or GPS tracker in modern vehicles that already come with some form of those abilities.
 

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Tacoma6shift

Tacoma6shift

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Whatever they use it for, I don’t want it. There’s already enough stuff collecting data as it is — honestly the GPS/navigation system in the dash probably does too. I’ve even heard of people digitally disabling some of that stuff.

Wouldn’t surprise me at all if all the cameras modern vehicles have nowadays are watching

Toyota DCM/Safety Connect Bypass Harness - Fits 2020+ Toyota Vehicles

2024 Tacoma You see things & say naw would never happen to me ... well Screenshot_23-5-2026_2351_www.reddit.com
and collecting data too. And yes, phones also… but at least with phones we know about it, and technically it’s in our hands — worst case, we can destroy it 😆
 

BLtheP

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Dealers not only use these kinds of devices for tracking their inventory, they also use them to monitor your mileage so they can contact you will sales pitches for service at the appropriate time. Usually the dealers that put some of these devices on will try to sell them to you at time of purchase. Their sales pitch is that with the appropriate app you can track where your kids go and to track your car if stolen. The problem with these things is that they also drain your battery and who knows who they sell your info to since so many dealerships don't miss a trick to make more money. Many years ago one of the ignition disabling devices, which I chose not to buy but was left in the vehicle, left me stranded when the cheap plastic disintegrated and the device fell apart. Since then I have always researched which dealers of whatever vehicle I was interested in did not install ANY aftermarket electronics and I bought from them. There is no need for an aftermarket alarm, Ignition disabling device or GPS tracker in modern vehicles that already come with some form of those abilities.
They do all of that without the cheap tracker on the OBD. The DCM does all that for them.
 

oxi

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Just so you know, driving on public roads is a 'privilege' and not a right.

State governments have the ability and legality to track all vehicles under their licensing and registrations. If they choose so.

Some states are getting the basis to track your mileage for the sake of the environment and taxing excess mileage, stuff like that. Restrictions to how many miles you can drive. They are starting this in Europe since they lack much of any oil reserves, except Russia which is 42% of Europe, they have plenty to spread around.

Get used to it, more of this stuff is coming near term. Especially regarding insurance companies access to negligent driving wrecks (everyone calls accidents) and so forth. Going to get tighter out there.
 

franx

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Unfortunately your phone is already tracking your location, every site you visit and how much time you spend on the site, etc.
 

The Dude

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The sooner people realize “they” are the product, and what they own is marketing “them” to big business, the less surprising stuff like this will be.
 

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franx

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Flock cameras are everywhere too scanning every cars license plates.
 

Slappy

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oh No
i gotta breakout the tin foil hat again :question:
 

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Unfortunately your phone is already tracking your location, every site you visit and how much time you spend on the site, etc.
Federal law aside, your statement should be corrected to say something like your own phone, or people who don't configure them well. We don't all have poorly configured devices, some of us use the generalized vs detailed location settings, and some of us also do a good job with settings like Meta off site browsing and similar.

Beyond that, there's Flock. It is worth knowing if you've been monitored. From license plate similarity and operator mistake or maybe malicious behavior from staff, I found a semi rural southern USA sheriff's dept had my vehicle watched for a month last year. I hadn't been in that part of the country for decades. That system is easily abused, and not enough people are involved with their local governance to make sure they have decent policies or just cancel it.

https://haveibeenflocked.com/
 

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I agree and I have turned off as many permissions as I could on all my apps. What people agree to on these apps permissions is insane. That includes the Toyota app.
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