Dealership unplugged my dashcam during recall service

[Jman79]

Here is the thing - they are not liable for aftermarket stuff like Dashcams. There should not be any risk to them during a software update. If there is, they need to specify and inform the person of it then ask if they can continue - or just have it be a signed waiver or disclosed when the vehicle is dropped off. "Do you have a dashcam hardwired?" Yes. "To avoid any risk of overvoltage to it during an update, we'd like to disconnect it. Can we continue?" Let's be honest - still a bit suspect and would more than likely be to just avoid getting their workforce wrapped up in a "my dashcam caught this" situation.

Nobody disables a dashcam for "safety purposes" though. I've had tons of work done to my vehicles and they have never disconnected the dash cams. They might disconnect the battery, but not the dashcam.

That's like a handyman coming into your home to install a TV and saying "we have to disable your security cameras". It's sketchy.

OP, was it a 3 way dashcam? Outside and inside? Because if so, that's even more suspect.

Except it's the opposite it's not your house it's their house. Dealership isn't a public space.

Put yourself in their shoes. It's pretty crappy to feel all day long customers are recording you. In your place of work where you have reasonable expectation of privacy / safe space set forth by your employer.

Wanna wind up on YouTube because you tripped and look like an idiot (without touching the car), is that dashcam going to have view of a bathroom, is it going to accidentally see another customers PII in normal work day processing paperwork?

I've got a dash cam, I've got security cameras around my house. But I think it's actually good policy for them to unplug cameras. I'm sure there are many IT shops that cover laptop cams that come into their shops for similar privacy reasons. Not a lawyer but just as a person I think there should be more responsibility to disclose you are bringing a camera into their environment then they would need to disclose that unplug them.

If my handyman came to my home and did an update on my smart electric meter and unplugged all electronics it seems legit. Easy way to avoid possible damage to expensive electronics.

No I don't work for dealers/retailers of any sort. But those who want to record everything everywhere drive me bonkers. People should be able to fart, pick their nose, curse and mess around with their work friends without fear of being recorded by strangers.

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[Montana]

No none of this should be needed, this is why there is a sticker on a hair dryer not to use it a tub.

Now you want dealer to come up with a list of every possible thing an owner could have plugged in somewhere. Bullshit. It got unplugged, welcome to the real world- just fin plug it back in and don't start a thread on the internet about it.

Ridiculous. And I didn't start the thread. Nobody unplugs a dashcam unless they are worried about being filmed. Should they unplug any aftermarket lighting too? Ya know... for safety reasons...

Except it's the opposite it's not your house it's their house. Dealership isn't a public space.

Put yourself in their shoes. It's pretty crappy to feel all day long customers are recording you. In your place of work where you have reasonable expectation of privacy / safe space set forth by your employer.

Wanna wind up on YouTube because you tripped and look like an idiot (without touching the car), is that dashcam going to have view of a bathroom, is it going to accidentally see another customers PII in normal work day processing paperwork?

I've got a dash cam, I've got security cameras around my house. But I think it's actually good policy for them to unplug cameras. I'm sure there are many IT shops that cover laptop cams that come into their shops for similar privacy reasons. Not a lawyer but just as a person I think there should be more responsibility to disclose you are bringing a camera into their environment then they would need to disclose that unplug them.

If my handyman came to my home and did an update on my smart electric meter and unplugged all electronics it seems legit. Easy way to avoid possible damage to expensive electronics.

No I don't work for dealers/retailers of any sort. But those who want to record everything everywhere drive me bonkers. People should be able to fart, pick their nose, curse and mess around with their work friends without fear of being recorded by strangers.

The vehicle is not their property. Just because the vehicle is on their lot being serviced doesn't give them the right to unplug the dashcam. Wtf are you talking about? You are associating tiktokers in the gym with a dashcam? Seriously?

Both of ya'll are being ridiculous. There was no reason to unplug the dashcam. I had my Tacoma in the shop to have custom audio done. 2 days to do the job. Did they unplug the dashcam? Nope. Every single time the battery was connected so was the dashcam. And it ran on battery packs.

Seriously... what the actual fff did I just read. If you get offended by camera's and have that much anxiety - stay home. By your logic, if we get in an accident, I should have the right to tell you to stop recording? lmfao. Whatever dude.

Some of ya'll associating the vehicle being on their lot means "their rules" are numb in the head. So they can steal any change you have in there? It's all just free game? I mean, it's the risk you take trusting someone else anyways, right? Hence the dashcam. And this is coming from someone that doesn't leave valuables in their vehicle at times like this and always plays on the side of "out of sight out of mind", but lemme ask you this: If you take your vehicle to a service center and there are signs everywhere saying "no dashcams", would you trust them?

Yea. I thought not. Big red flag.

How about airport parking? Or any parking lot for that matter. I mean, it's their lot... right?

Even if he did it for those "safety" reasons, it's still suspect. If the dashcam is hooked up properly there is no risk. That's what capacitors are for btw... and fuses. Lastly, it's the risk you take having the camera hooked up. I'd rather have one blow a fuse or capacitor and need to replace it than have some shady random person unplugging it.

 

[801Maverick801]

I work at this Dealership. The Techs unplugged your dashcam and got freaky in the back seat.

 

[Skyline]

Even if you have nothing to hide, would you let anyone enter into your house with a GoPro camera attached to them? I wouldn't, even if the person is from law enforcement. In my view, there's nothing wrong with the dealership unplugging the dashcam, it's their property and their rules. Nowadays, there are so many of the recordings end up on the web. Why would the dealership risk being ridiculed on the web?

The last time my truck was at the dealer for some repairs, the service guy put back the fuse for the telemetry module (TCM). Just put the fuse back, when I've got home. No big deal...

 

[40caliber]

Oh my!
Seek out a class action attorney pronto!

 

[mav_kev]

Been a while since we've had a thread pushing new lows on this forum - but this one might be doing it.

 

[Montana]

You're kind of acting paranoid and the only one in this thread who thinks it's an issue.

Not to attack you, but for OP, I highlighted why your off base. Sorry you're upset your wrong, but your wrong. You can't record anywhere you like, not where others have a reasonable expectation of privacy. Stores that allow access to the public are not public places and employees are people with rights too. Look it up, it's a thing.

Your camera is in your vehicle. Your vehicle is your property. Dashcams exist to protect your property. You are not walking into a wal-mart and filming someone randomly. Can they argue to have their store not be recorded? If they want you removed from the property they could, but it would take a shit ton of effort and legal battles to obtain that recording after the fact.

I think you need to look up the cases of people losing these suites in their acclaimed privacy in public spaces AND private property, because let's be real here - everything is owned by someone and not all states have the same laws. This isn't someone just randomly filming someone because they can - which is legal. Ever heard of auditing? It's a thing and it's 100% legal. How many videos have we seen of people sneaking camera's in to catch mechanics not doing what should be done and charging for things that should not be charged for? It's not paranoia... it's reality. The fact that you associate a dashcam in someone's property with some random idiots tiktoking in public is astonishing.

Have you ever had an incident happen in a "private parking lot" and asked for the evidence? Good effing luck. You don't think stuff happens at dealerships? Just recently there was a post of someone that was involved in an accident via their employees test driving the vehicle. Should the dashcam have been unplugged for that too? You know... to protect the mechanics driving the vehicle they crashed (even if it was not entirely their fault)... Because the dealership has actively ignored their requests to handle the situation properly and forcing them to use their own insurance to jack their own rates etc etc. It's not the same as the dealerships insurance reaching out through the proper channels to their insurance, they are trying to avoid liability by having them file first. Do you really not see where this is going? With a dashcam they would have been able to prove everything right away - no denying it. Force me to use my own insurance when your multi million dollar company literally has things in place to cover this exact scenario and why? Because screw you. That's how litigation starts and who do you think they are going to favor? The guy who unplugged the dashcam or the guy that argues why it should have been left alone.

How many more times do I need to share with you the fact that a recording has kept someone honest? Do we need to get into police accountability too? The entire scenarios you are dreaming up are not even close to why the dashcam is there, or why it should be left alone. You are associating random events of privacy invasion with a security feature for insurance purposes.

You are so worried about these mechanics being recorded like the dealership doesn't have a camera system in place already to record their employees? Do you think it exists to protect the employees? lol. What about grocery stores? Or literally 90% of businesses now days? Do employees have a right to privacy because their body is on someone else's property? Where can you go now days without being recorded? The list is shrinking and if someone wants to record you, they will. I can't believe I even have to get this much into the tinfoil hatness of privacy invasion over a dashcam discussion. It should have never gotten this ridiculous yet here we are. The OP has every right to protect their property as nothing was disclosed to them that it was not allowed. End of story.

Been a while since we've had a thread pushing new lows on this forum - but this one might be doing it.

I agree. Overthinking the simplicity of why the dashcam exists in favor of "privacy" when it doesn't actually exist in these scenarios at all is a low life maneuver. But since people want to argue in favor of people being able to disable others property while it's in service, I'll gladly argue it.

Not one of my question has been answered by the way.

There is no legitimate reason why someone should disconnect a dashcam. Not one reasonable argument has been made in favor of the dealership other than "their rules" - which again, were clearly NOT disclosed before operating on someone's property. Right? All they had to do was ask or disclose that information. Would I make a scene of it if this was my vehicle? Likely not. I probably wouldn't go back though. But this forum is for discussion and I'm still waiting for a reasonable thought process on why anyone would feel the need to hide from a dashcam other than malicious intent. Overvoltage was the only reasonable mention which again - as a mechanic, it's their property and an aftermarket accessory and also has safeguards in place to protect it from such. I can't say I've ever heard of an update to any vehicle causing a dashcam failure ever before this crazy ass thread. One more time - why was nothing else unplugged? Did they check for aftermarket amplifiers and stereo equipment? Fog lights? etc etc... nope.

A lot of people on here are getting butthurt because you know they are the ones who go and tear it up in customers cars too. OP, don’t let them get in your mind. You have every right to be curious here. It's suspect.

Also, my dashcam makes a bracket to keep people from being able to disconnect it easily. You should look into a dashcam that offers something like this. I have a Viofo. It can still be taken off with some effort and tools - but they would have to remove the housing around the rear view mirror to slide the dashcam off the GPS mount, then unscrew it with a security screw driver. Anyone willing to go through that amount of effort is definitely suspect.

One thing I am curious of - is what the earlier recordings show? Did they get in an immediately identify the dashcam? Did you have parking mode to record for a set amount of time after ignition off? Any battery packs as backup for parking mode? Now that we have all these replies about people so skittish around camera's, I'm curious if the recordings show anything that lead up to the disconnection.

 

[KevCuRaoi]

Last week I dropped off my Maverick for 2 software updates. One was a basic update and the other was a recall something to do with the brake lights. They called and said the truck was ready for pickup. I picked up the truck and when I got home I noticed the plug for power and the plug connecting to the rear camera were unplugged.

Do most dealerships do this? What has been your experience?

Does your camera plug into OBD2 port?

 

[Montana]

Does your camera plug into OBD2 port?

They mean the one at the dashcam. Any dashcam that has a rear camera the connection to the rear camera goes straight into the dashcam itself. So the dealership unplugged both camera's at the dashcam.

OBDII would be a reasonable exception if it was done at the OBD2 port and that is what they needed to service (usually is). Also a great argument why to not use the OBDII for your dashcam.

 

[TwoTone]

Ridiculous. And I didn't start the thread. Nobody unplugs a dashcam unless they are worried about being filmed. Should they unplug any aftermarket lighting too? Ya know... for safety reasons...



The vehicle is not their property. Just because the vehicle is on their lot being serviced doesn't give them the right to unplug the dashcam. Wtf are you talking about? You are associating tiktokers in the gym with a dashcam? Seriously?

Both of ya'll are being ridiculous. There was no reason to unplug the dashcam. I had my Tacoma in the shop to have custom audio done. 2 days to do the job. Did they unplug the dashcam? Nope. Every single time the battery was connected so was the dashcam. And it ran on battery packs.

Seriously... what the actual fff did I just read. If you get offended by camera's and have that much anxiety - stay home. By your logic, if we get in an accident, I should have the right to tell you to stop recording? lmfao. Whatever dude.

Some of ya'll associating the vehicle being on their lot means "their rules" are numb in the head. So they can steal any change you have in there? It's all just free game? I mean, it's the risk you take trusting someone else anyways, right? Hence the dashcam. And this is coming from someone that doesn't leave valuables in their vehicle at times like this and always plays on the side of "out of sight out of mind", but lemme ask you this: If you take your vehicle to a service center and there are signs everywhere saying "no dashcams", would you trust them?

Yea. I thought not. Big red flag.

How about airport parking? Or any parking lot for that matter. I mean, it's their lot... right?

Even if he did it for those "safety" reasons, it's still suspect. If the dashcam is hooked up properly there is no risk. That's what capacitors are for btw... and fuses. Lastly, it's the risk you take having the camera hooked up. I'd rather have one blow a fuse or capacitor and need to replace it than have some shady random person unplugging it.

You're the ridiculous one. Just because you don't want to be recorded doesn't mean you're up to something shady.
I remember a lot of stupid shit that happened around the shop that had nothing to do with the customers cars, but I wouldn't want record.

I have no idea what kind of asshole owns that vehicle and what they might do with the recording.
It's your property but do you know how stupid it is to say they can't unplug a dash cam while it's there but can do everything else needed with the repair.

I think I've got a pretty good read on you; you have this opinion on techs, but sure as hell would have a problem with a camera over your desk recording you while you work all day.

 

[Cyberwiz64]

I didn't check the recording to see where it cut off. If they had plugged it back in before I picked it up, I would not have noticed. I used the plug into the accessory (cigarette lighter) port.

I used to work at a dealership and I know some shenanigans happen. When you see it unplugged it just makes you wonder what are you missing.

 

[Cyberwiz64]

Had to call about another thing and I spoke to my service manager. Since it was a software upgrade they typically disable items plugged in items so it doesn't interfere with the upgrade. They haven't had any issues but they are playing it safe.

 

[Automan21]

Joyrides yeah It does happen though. I had a fully worked on Mini Cooper S and I had to get a new alternator, belt and clutch done, under warranty. The tech took it out for a test drive after the repairs and of course he had fun with it lol. I didn't mind since it was an autocross only car.
I know, I know how's it under warranty. It was a add on warranty from the dealer. That was a great feeling to just pay $100 bucks for all that work.
Theres some vids online of guys putting in cameras with two way ability to catch dealerships stealing things from the cars. Can't remember the site but maybe YouTube has some.

 

[Pudakis]

They do that for reasons like this listen closely.

 

[1929]

Last week I dropped off my Maverick for 2 software updates. One was a basic update and the other was a recall something to do with the brake lights. They called and said the truck was ready for pickup. I picked up the truck and when I got home I noticed the plug for power and the plug connecting to the rear camera were unplugged.

Do most dealerships do this? What has been your experience?

Dealership for a different make does this. And they don't plug it back in. If they did I would not notice and not care.

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