Disable GPS Tracking?

[DankjeeP]

oh here we go again

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...s-control-of-my-jeep-over-the-internet.38439/

Zactly what I was thinking. Shut my Jeep off while I'm driving down the highway type stuff. Just never going to happen unless you are Bonnie and Clyde or something and you are on the FBI's radar and they go the extra 200 miles to figure out......blah fucking blah.
I too hate all the data collection BS, but I came to realize that there is no way to really stop it in the modern world. I hack the shit out of my phones, remove all the apps possible, don't do any google or facebook crap. No location ever enabled. But I also realized the data they are collecting is pretty much useless marketing crap that I disable anyway with adblock and turning off javascript.

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[KurtP]

A piece of aluminum foil over the antenna (which is in the soundbar) will stop GPS reception.

Kevin

Yes, sometimes foil will leak signal though, and i havent tested it on ours. I know the faraday works 100

 

[mazeppa]

https://www.amazon.com/faraday-material/s?k=faraday+material

Irony; now I'm getting Faraday fabric pop-up ads after clicking that.

 

[KurtP]

Irony; now I'm getting Faraday fabric pop-up ads after clicking that.

Haha yeah. I like having a faraday bag for my phones and im going to make a velcro fabric roll bar sleeve to cover the antenna when I want to.

 

[mazeppa]

Haha yeah. I like having a faraday bag for my phones and im going to make a velcro fabric roll bar sleeve to cover the antenna when I want to.

I have an extra cut blade key that will unlock my doors hidden externally, and the spare key fob in a Faraday bag hidden internally that would be hard to find and I can access its quickly. In case I lose the key fob on me, I can open the locked door with the cut key blade, the alarm will sound off, then quickly access the key fob in the Faraday bag to turn off the alarm and operate the JT. The JT can't receive any signal from the internal hidden key fob in the Faraday bag to turn on or start.

 

[KurtP]

I have an extra cut blade key that will unlock my doors hidden externally, and the spare key fob in a Faraday bag hidden internally that would be hard to find and I can access its quickly. In case I lose the key fob on me, I can open the locked door with the cut key blade, the alarm will sound off, then quickly access the key fob in the Faraday bag to turn off the alarm and operate the JT. The JT can't receive any signal from the internal hidden key fob in the Faraday bag to turn on or start.

Boom.

 

[FrankFrqnkFrank]

The tin foil posts make me smile for sure. But I’d be even happier if FCA SiriusXM and others had to follow GDPR-like protocols here.

 

[eaglerugby04]

The tin foil posts make me smile for sure. But I’d be even happier if FCA SiriusXM and others had to follow GDPR-like protocols here.

lol yep those crack me up. but even if you did that the LTE modem is still in there somewhere that can be triangulated from towers. Technology is awesome and creepy at the same time.

 

[GrandCherokee2021]

Hi,

Interesting thread. I just bought a 2021 Grand Cherokee and I'm going through the process of disconnecting it from the internet. A few points regarding what I've read here so far:

1. Disconnecting the antennas in back of the radio will not stop the 4G modem from hooking up to the cellular network. It will reduce the effectiveness of the modem, but the modem will function without external antennas, just like an iPhone or other smartphone will work without external antennas. If you're in an area with strong cellular signal, the modem will connect.

2. Tin foil won't help either. The modem is inside the die-cast casing of the radio head unit, surrounded by metal, but the signal gets through anyways. I have seen conclusive proof of this, from someone who disconnected the antennas and attempted to shield the unit. The 'bars' for the modem meter, which are buried in the Settings of the display application, showed that the modem was connecting anyways.

3. There is no way for the user/owner/consumer to turn off the 4G modem from software.

Therefore, the only way to disconnect 4G is to remove the modem. I purchased a spare radio unit, see photos below. The 2021 unit is from Panasonic, which includes two boards, with the following chips:

• a Panasonic radio chip model j3bbzzb00074 that supports AM / FM / HD / Satellite, GPS and (apparently) Bluetooth and Wifi
• a main controller, or 'computer chip, which is a Texas Instruments Jacinto DRA752, model APP2ABCQ1
• a Sandisk 'secure data' flash memory chip, SDINBDG4 - 32GB. This is where the operating system (I think it's Android, it might be some other form of Linux) and applications live.
• a Sierra Wireless AirPrime AR 7552 4G modem, connected to the upper board by a ribbon cable, probably a USB cable. This modem supports various cell phone networks as well as GPS. This means that there are two GPS chips in the unit, one in the Panasonic radio chip, the other in the modem. Removing the modem should not kill GPS on the nav system entirely. It should just make the navigation function less 'smart', like an old Garmin (I hope).
• There are three antenna connections: 'primary', RX2 ('secondary') and GNSS (GPS).The antennas feed both the Panasonic chip (by traces on the circuit board, and a single point-to-point wire) and feed the AirPrime modem by three point-to-point wires.
• A few other chips, like an NXP audio digital processor, a TI audio amplifier, what appears to be a big RAM (random access memory) chip, and some mystery chips that are unmarked or under covers.

The Panasonic unit for 2021 is separate from the touchscreen display. It comes apart with 6 screws. Carefully open the case, the modem is in the side of the case under a metal clip secured by three screws. Remove the screws, separate the modem from the case, unsnap the antenna wires from the modem. Then remove the USB ribbon cable from the connector on the upper board, and remove the three antenna cables from the upper board.

See photos. The modem is the blue thing with the shiny chip in the lower-right.

 

[GrandCherokee2021]

Unfortunately the results of the above experiment are not satisfactory at this point. Although the climate controls work fine, and no errors came up on the screen, or on the dash, or anywhere, the radio and XM aren't quite right. The sound will come on for a second or so when I touch the screen, and then silence. I'm going to swap back the original radio and attempt to debug the modified one.

 

[GrandCherokee2021]

Unfortunately the results of the above experiment are not satisfactory at this point. Although the climate controls work fine, and no errors came up on the screen, or on the dash, or anywhere, the radio and XM aren't quite right. The sound will come on for a second or so when I touch the screen, and then silence. I'm going to swap back the original radio and attempt to debug the modified one.

Actually, I was wrong. It's all working fine. No Nav/GPS, but that's OK. Sirius and FM are fully functional. I don't know what I did to 'fix' it, there must have been some sort of mute function invoked, or maybe it was the park-sense, or something else that needs to use the audio channel. Dunno. For now, I'm happy and there's no modem spying on me.

 

[sarguy1941]

So no jeep modem but you still have your cell phone.....

 

[FrankFrqnkFrank]

So no jeep modem but you still have your cell phone.....

I’m old enough that I’m comfortable leaving it at home if I don’t actually need it

 

[Raton Pass]

Ha!
Been hacked online three ways to Sunday.

Some years ago

Documented my wireless ISP company overselling bandwidth & throttling speeds I paid for and promised.

Even video of employees stating such.

When I sent the evidence to the FCC they were fired up and all over it.

All of a sudden they lost everything and gave it a different case number.

The CEO of my ISP was on the goobermint board that controlled the monies given to ISP carriers.

All our personal information was given to every internet carrier known to man.

I would assume to school them about getting caught with their pants down.

Got irate calls from New Yorkers cussing me & threats to sue. I spoke I’ll of his mom & the way he was raised.

Thank God my wife survived cancer but my credit did not.
Blood out of a turnip ...but I dropped it.

In hindsight wish I would have known who’s rope I was pissing up.

I trust about as far as I can throw them.

IMO, the GPS is installed for financial institutions in order to repo vehicles.

When looking for my Jeep Boerne Dodge was charging extra for the GPS saying it was in case it was stolen and I could find it.

I told them I was paying cash so there was no reason to track it for repossession.

They would not remove the charge.

Bought at Neessen Jeep instead saving over 2k!

George Orwell’s 1984 ain’t got snit on modern times.

 

[GrandCherokee2021]

" So no jeep modem but you still have your cell phone..... "

I have a flip phone with an off-button. My SO has an iPhone.

It's not all about tracking, although that is a concern.

The modem was connected to a computer that is also connected to a CAN bus and can interfere with the functioning of the car. The user does not have control over this computer, and has no way to determine which apps are running, and what they do. Neither the flip phone nor iPhone is connected to the car's CAN bus, and they come with an 'off' button.

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