I just read an article about how all cars newer than 2018 phone home with data about where the car has been and how it's been driven, and that the phoning home can be halted by pulling one fuse usually labeled TCU or connected data portal.

I have a fuse card for my 2022 MINI Cooper S Sidewalk Edition convertible (card attached), but don't see any such label on it. Has anyone bothered to figure out what fuse controls this behavior, and what if any useful functions would be disabled if it were unplugged?

I'm not terribly concerned about the phoning home, as I mostly obey speed limits, and aim for maximum mileage. That said, I'd rather have the choice of whether my car phones home or not.

 

TCU ? ATM box? on BDC F12. But if you unplug it, I think you will get more and more errors on your Kombi and HU.

 

Thanks!

 

Be aware, you're going to have some major faults pulling that fuse.

I was under the impression that the car only sends data to Mini if you have the Mini Connected package. No Mini Connected, and the data all stays on board. All that data is tightly bound into the car, too.

I hate to derail the topic, but I'm going to... If you are that concerned with your personal data being harvested, only way around it is to disconnect from the world and move into the woods in Alaska. Just by having a cell phone, or even being on the internet, your life is being monitored.