Whiteoak

Thanks for the update! I have a deposit on one and it's probably 5-6 month wait. It looks like you are in Montana if you ever come to Spokane I would like to test it with my equipment. I would be willing to bet it doesn't block it 100% that way. I know because I make faraday boxes for smart meter covers to block RF Radiation, I first made them out of foil, then aluminum wire mesh in two layers, both got through still.. I finally learned how they make it in cancer treatment rooms (poison treatment labs) You need two separate layers of metal, but not touching each other, they have to be separated by a non conductive layer, but both metal layers need grounded separately.. (one pin hole or any leak in the barriers not full covered can compromise the faraday cage.)

You can use copper foil tape with conductive glue on and do two layers but you must have a layer that is non conductive (in the middle sandwiched) for it to work right. You can run a wire for ground or even a piece of the copper foil tape. I have a gigahertz solutions HFE-59B RF Radiation detector and a pretty good bug detector.. I could make sure nothing is leaking.. But I guarantee how you have it done it leaking even if it isn't showing signal strength on the dash. Hope this helps.. One more time taking it apart and following these instructions you should be good, as long as they don't have anything else sneaky transmitting. Bluetooth I have heard can activate other blutooth and boost their signals off of other pieces of equipment. Relay's..

PrivacyMod

You’re indeed correct. It still shows 1 bar when I am within like 300 ft of a cell tower, with the connectors side of the DCM case facing the tower (essentially when the tower is behind the car). The good news is that the “transmit” icon on the screen does not light up, while with the 2 bars signal under the original fix the icon was blinking about once per minute when driving. It is possible the DCM expects at least 2 bars of signal strength before bothering to transmit, or maybe the signal strength is shown only for the signal received, while the transmitted signal fails to reach the tower and/or the link is just not being established for whatever reason. Anyway, I think this is good enough of a fix. I will likely still install the Lexus/Toyota mobile app and will try to enroll my vehicle and then to formally opt out of their data collection. Realistically the only better option is to cut the PCB traces from that Kyocera module to the RF connectors, but this would be a non-reversible fix and also obviously beyond the skill level and determination of the majority of Lexus owners.

One interesting observation is that even with the fix above the “transmit” icon is still blinking when I get within like 200 ft of my “Home” location, even while the DCM is showing 0 bars! It is only the Entertainment module which has both the GPS fix and the actual knowledge of my “Home” location, so there must be some coordination involved between the Entertainment module and the DCM. Hopefully the “transmit” icon indicates a mere attempt to transmit something and not the actual success, as the latter would be rather unexpected with a signal strength of 0 bars.

The SOS/Mayday light remains solid red at all times, so at least this path has definitely been fixed.

Words cannot express how pissed I am having to deal with this crap after having paid a non-trivial amount of money for a brand new Lexus!

…Unfortunately I am not currently in MT. Montana is my dream destination; my wife will likely never agree to relocate there.

Whiteoak

I hope you get it figured out before I get mine.. lol.. Check out Rob Braxman with bluetooth.. Bluetooth has ways to remotely connect other devices to other devices.. My concern, as that may be tough to eliminate.
I would like you to try my method if you are able to and have time, maybe even shield the wires as well with the conductive adhesive copper foil tape. It is very crucial to have two separate layer of metal both independently grounded..

If you are able to try this and it works great.. If not.. We need to work together to resolve this.. And keep trying more things. The opt out is hogwash, they could easily activate it at any time for any reason. You want to be able to disable that so they don't have that option.. If they can link your car, they can shut off your motor, mess with all sorts of settings. Could also be remote hacked. Not to mention the obvious spyware. Maybe the GPS navigation antenna is also tied into the others? If that is not true.. My worst nightmare guess would be the bluetooth helps relay the signal from the DCM.

GX4602011

Thank you for this post, I was wondering how the tracking was set-up. How about a dummy replacement unit that uses power to fool the ecu into thinking it is working but does nothing? Something like aftermarket LED turn signals do to fool the flasher. Perhaps there is communications back and forth with other ecus, matching IDs etc., so perhaps not as easy. Another option would be a custom Faraday case as Whiteoak wrote about, one that the case could slide into with ports, so the connections areas would be protected from leaks?

John00

what about disconnecting the power to the module? if that disables other wanted things then how about cut the power to the module amp(s)?
Do the older gen2s even need to worry about it?

PrivacyMod

UPDATE 4/30/2022: Unfortunately the original method cannot be made to work (see below for the long story). However, there is an alternative solution, which is a lot simpler and which should be good enough for the vast majority of people, who are concerned about their privacy.

The new mod procedure
1. OPTIONAL (but highly recommended in order to boost one’s motivation for the mod): Install the Toyota app. Register your car by VIN. Call Lexus via the SoS button in the car to activate service (it’s free as you are the product). Play with the app to control your car remotely, watch it tracks both your car position and your complete trips. Think about how in 10 years there will be no more police chases and how in 20 years your car will not start if your social credit score is too low or your carbon score is too high.
2. Remove panels #1 and #2 as shown in the picture above in the original post. This is very simple to do and takes maybe 5 minutes. Nothing else needs to be removed!
3. Using tools like these:



and a small flat screwdriver unplug the corresponding connectors from the DCM (there is enough room to access the connectors with the tools):



- Unplug the power connector in the center to make access easier
- Unplug the “network” connector right below the power one
- Unplug the GPS and Cellular antennas connectors below
- Plug the power connector back in
- (Those who’re on Jason Bourne’s team) Unplug all DCM connectors. Your car will no longer talk to cellular networks, but you will lose your hands-free Bluetooth.




4. Re-attach the panels back.
5. OPTINAL: if you installed the Toyota app and registered for service, drive the car for a few days and observe how the car location is no longer updated in the app. (Remote start/stop is unfortunately still available, unless you’ve chosen the Jason Bourne’s approach above). Go to Account->Privacy in the app and remove your permission to transmit data. You should then receive a formal acknowledgement e-mail from Lexus/Toyota about the opt-out. Save that e-mail just in case.

You’re done. Uninstall the app.

Long Story
The original approach which was based on attempting to cut-off and shield both the GPS and Cellular antennas to DCM fails to solve the problem. Well, it does work for cutting off the GPS signal to the DCM, but it turns out that DCM can still source the GPS position from the entertainment module! And cutting-off the cellular signal turned out to be impossible. There’s some kind of parasitic coupling still happening despite all the effort, and that coupling is enough for the cellular modem to connect when the car is within a few hundred feet from a cellular tower. Thinking about it, from basic physics and math, if the parasitic coupling is bringing in just 0.1% of the signal compared to what the regular antenna would bring in, this will be enough for the modem to work within ~0.1 mile from the tower (assuming the modem works up to 5 miles from the tower with the regular antenna).

I even tried making a custom shield for the exposed PCB traces:



This made no difference.

Having failed the “intelligent” approach, I had to either give up or to try brute force. Amazingly enough, brute force worked! For some reason the main ECU does not care about the DCM being present! Thank you, Lexus engineers! (I do mean it). One can completely disconnect the DCM, and there will be no fault codes logged by the ECU! At least, there were no codes which my OBDII scanner could find. So, can we just disconnect the DCM? Well, we can, but unfortunately we will then lose hands-free Bluetooth (as the in-cabin microphone is routed through the DCM). Still, for someone who is on Jason Bourne-level mission, this could be an acceptable trade-off for getting rid of the always-on DCM cellular modem. For the rest of us there is a compromise solution, which is to disconnect the “Network” connector to the DCM, thus apparently preventing the DCM from sourcing the GPS position from the entertainment module. This way the DCM will have no knowledge of the car GPS position, which is the main privacy concern. The 3 letter agencies will still be able to remotely turn off the car (but only when the car is close to a cell tower!), and this is definitely not good, but until we start seeing reports of this technique actually being used, I think I will keep using my hands-free Bluetooth.

The “ideal” fix here would be to create a “dummy” DCM connector receptacle for the “main” DCM connector in order to route the microphone pass-through. Then one could replace the actual DCM module with just the dummy connector, and have the hands-free Bluetooth still working. I didn’t go that far; disabling the GPS path seemed good enough.

P.S. The absolute minimum one should do is to install the app, register the car (no need to activate the remote service) and then remove the “transmit data” permission via the app in order to receive the formal opt-out confirmation e-mail. This way they cannot collect your data legally. I am not aware of any other way to receive the formal opt-out confirmation e-mail, and I have no idea what the initial default state of data transmission is. There could be some small print somewhere that by “purchasing the car you consent to… bla-bla-bla”, which is probably why the “VEHICLE DATA TRANSMISSION IS ON” sticker is there near the SoS button.

P.S. If you go for the bare minimum above (or just to be on the safe side), please, also turn off “Dynamic Routes” in Setup->Navigation->Detailed Settings. Otherwise your entertainment module will be happily transmitting all your routes to Google. There is no information anywhere about whether this feature is subject to the same “data transmission” opt-out as the Connected services. I suspect it isn't.

IanG

Or buy a Canadian model which does not have connection to the Toyota app, there is no SoS button, etc.
There are advantages to living in the Great White North

ballistice

These kind of threads come up all the time and are based on paranoia. I can't believe anyone who is a law abiding citizen would want to do this. The only advantage to this kind of modification would be for someone who is hiding from law enforcement, a whacked out of control driver to beat insurance claims, drug dealer/other criminal activity or concealing vehicle from repo man.

With all the cameras and surveillance going on in this world, privacy should be the least of our worries. I have nothing to hide so this would be a waste of time.

LeX2K

The only people that want their freedom is criminals. Could you come up with a worse argument? But since you have nothing to hide please provide us with all your personal information. You're not a criminal are you?

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

Folks this thread is veering towards politics and debate and will be closed or members kicked from the thread if it continues.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/faq...les#faq_debate

Please back on topic and leave those off our community

Whiteoak

MODERATOR EDIT. Whiteoak exit this thread

ballistice

Another good reason to leave this data module in is for remote diagnostics. This makes it easy for manufactures to figure out and in some cases repair/clear codes without bringing it in. John Deere and many other manufacturers do this with a various connected support programs. The time and labor saved on repairs is immense. Having dealer clearing codes is a cinch without having to plug diagnostic tool into the OBD port.


Lexus Enform Service makes good use of the embedded telematics system to transmit your vehicle diagnostic data. It's a proven system that saves a lot of time and labor. Unfortunately this will be going away later this year. I'm sure they are working to upgrade to another more intuitive system that works with the 5G network. And boy imagine the data speed!! Once 3G is phased out the current telematic circuit boards become paper weights anyway. So anyone doing this delete is wasting labor.

evilfij

This is a 2023 GX.

I did not enroll in the apps, and I thought that would be sufficient for no services, but I saw the green light on the SOS button so I pressed the SOS button after seeing the sticker which said my vehicle is transmitting. The lady said it would turn off, but it did not do so right away. She said I had to give and email or phone number. I told her to send a letter. She said no. I said I did not want to give away any information and was already on the do not share info and had opted out of communications, but relented and gave my main office number after making clear that no one was to contact me.

I would like to pull the fuse or even the module that connects the vehicle to the internet. Where is it?

On my Porsche this was a non-issue and it never transmitted (which I verified) and they even sent me a letter saying as much and then another letter saying even though I was not connected, it would not work unless I got the 4G update.

TheLastV8

love it.


how did you verify? By the way, there are services out there that let you create throwaway emails. Check out Simplelogin.com. I haven’t given my real email to anyone in months.

I personally don’t mind having a backup SOS feature. What I don’t want to have a constant wifi router beaming mere inches from head non stop without a way to fully turn it off.

evilfij

I tried using it is how I verified it (in addition to telling the dealer if it was on I would be mad and would spend the afternoon in their parking lot removing the module). The burden of creating a throw away email is not worth it to me. Better to just not give it out. I have an old email for forums and such.

I am happy to remove the module on the GX, I just don’t know where it is and would prefer not to take that step if I don’t have to. I am good at taking cars apart, slightly less good at putting them back together, but I think I can handle it ….