How to stop your car from tracking you

Level 1: Turn off sharing in the app and account

Every major brand has data-sharing settings in its connected-services app or owner website. Look for anything labeled data sharing, analytics, marketing, driver feedback, or “improve our services,” and anything insurance-related (GM’s was called Smart Driver). Turn off what you don’t need.

• GM: myChevrolet, myGMC, myBuick, or myCadillac app, under connected services or privacy.
• Ford and Lincoln: FordPass or Lincoln Way, under vehicle connectivity or privacy.
• Ram, Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler: the Uconnect, Ram, or Jeep app, under connected services.
• Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, and others: look for a privacy or data-sharing section in the brand’s app.

Menus move around often, so look for those words rather than an exact path. The weakness: this relies on the automaker honoring the setting. Recheck after major software updates.

Level 2: Delete the companion app

In a September 2026 study by Northeastern University and Consumer Reports, 7 of 30 car apps sent identifying data like VINs, emails, phone numbers, or precise location to tracking and advertising companies. More on the study. If you rarely use remote start or unlock from your phone, deleting the app removes that pipe. It doesn’t turn off the car’s own modem; that’s Level 4.

Level 3: Request your data, then request deletion

• Ask the automaker. GM, Ford, and Stellantis have privacy request pages where you can see what they’ve collected on your VIN and ask for deletion.
• Check the data brokers. Request your free LexisNexis consumer disclosure report, which can include driving data. How insurers get driving data.
• Use your state’s privacy rights. A growing number of states let residents demand deletion or opt out of data sales. California residents can use the state’s Delete Request and Opt-out Platform (DROP) to reach registered data brokers.

Deletion covers what a company still holds. It doesn’t reach data already sold onward, and it doesn’t stop future collection.

Level 4: Disable the telematics modem

Levels 1–3 are requests. This one is physics. The telematics module is the car’s built-in cellular modem; stop it and the car can’t report anything. On most Fords and many GM vehicles it’s a fuse pull. On Ram and Jeep it’s unplugging connectors at the module. Both are reversible.

You give up automatic crash calling, SOS, remote start and locate from the app, and the Wi-Fi hotspot. Radio, Bluetooth, CarPlay and Android Auto, and every safety system keep working. It doesn’t void your whole warranty; here’s why.

What none of this fixes

• An insurer’s own driving app or plug-in device is a separate program. Leave it separately.
• Your phone syncs contacts, calls, and places into the infotainment system. How to wipe it.
• Hidden aftermarket trackers aren’t affected by any setting. How to check for them.