What the deuce is Toyota Safety Connect?

Exactly why I'm going to pay the $8 a month for the sub. I actually find it useful and worth it "to me". I understand everyone is different so that is why you are not required to subscribe to the service if you don't want to. Everyone has different levels of being comfortable with whatever service they sign up for. I'm "personally" comfortable with this service since I have everything turned off on the app that allows data collection to be sent to insurance companies etc... The convenience features are worth it "to me".

A little off topic from Safety Connect but along the same lines. I understand everyone's trepidation about giving companies your personal information, them selling that information, etc... But here's the way I look at it. I feel the same way. I don't like my information sold or shared by other companies for profit. I do my best to keep all of my information locked down but it is impossible to completely stop that from happening. So I just accept that is the world we live in now. I'm not happy about it but it is what it is. I'd venture a guess that most everyone on here has a smartphone? When you buy a new iPhone I can promise that you do not read the entire license agreement when you buy the phone and activate it. If you decline... you can't use the phone. I'd say that 99.99% of us never even read one word of that license agreement and just click accept. I know I do. Unless you specifically go through the phone and turn off what apps can use your information your phone sends out your information all the time. You are being tracked whether you like it or not and there is nothing you can do about that unless you decide to leave your phone at home or not have one at all. If you have any social media (including this site) you are being tracked. If you have a computer at all, you are being tracked. So unless you use a proxy server or start going to extremes of trying to stay off the grid? There really isn't much you can do in this day and age. And it's only going to get worse. We gave up our privacy rights a long time ago without even knowing it.

So... When it comes to something as simple as Safety Connect? I don't mind paying for it for the convenience features because it does offer a lot for your money. That's just me though. I can only speak for myself and I understand that it may not be worth it for the next person. That is why we have options.

 

Technically not impossible to live with privacy in respect to your meta-data being sold/bought etc, but you certainly almost need to be somewhat of an IT/Networking person to understand how to flip the tabled the other way. (there's a few youtube channels dedicated to this and it's a lot of info to sift through)

To ensure I don't derail this thread like a goober though, more then glad to share any resources should anyone DM me etc.

Overall, greatly appreciate the input as I try to understand more about the DCM and how it all works.

I may not personally have much to deal with, as I have a 2019 Tacoma with very little tech, but I have an older car to replace at some point leaving me with hesitation about how I want to proceed.

Makes me wish I had the time/money to build something from scratch (broadly speaking).

 

Anyone try just pulling the DCM fuse?