Privacy mode activated on it’s own?

[Gino]

Why does privacy mode activate on its own intermittently?
When I am away and it goes into “privacy mode” I have no way to see my vehicle location or the SOC status.
It is really annoying as well as a security risk since the only way to turn off “privacy mode” from what I understand, you must deactivate it in the vehicle.
Any thoughts?

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[Gino]

Why does privacy mode activate on its own intermittently?
When I am away and it goes into “privacy mode” I have no way to see my vehicle location or the SOC status.
It is really annoying as well as a security risk since the only way to turn off “privacy mode” from what I understand, you must deactivate it in the vehicle.
Any thoughts?

I’m wondering if this would be how someone could steal a Taycan. Just gain access to the car, activate privacy mode and drive away. You can’t see your vehicle on the map. Taycan should not go into privacy mode on its own.

 

[Sace]

Have you checked that the car IS actually in privacy mode? Sometimes the app just gets confused and says privacy mode is activated but when you get to the car it is not.

 

[Gino]

Have you checked that the car IS actually in privacy mode? Sometimes the app just gets confused and says privacy mode is activated but when you get to the car it is not.

Yes, one time I got in the car and it showed privacy mode was activated but this last time it showed it was deactivated in the car and once my phone connected to the car the app stopped saying it was in privacy mode.
I’ve only had this happen 3 or 4 times in the last almost 2 years on my 2021 CPO.
It seems to happen after an OTA software update. Thanks for your input.

 

[whitex]

MyPorsche app doesn't actually show the status of the car. It shows the status of a "digital copy" of your car in the cloud. This means the app will fake the status of the car if can't actually retrieve it, even though it will show you "Just updated" - which just means the app got the state of the digital copy of your car, which may or may not be up to date, and worse, it does sometimes appear to go into privacy mode, even if the car is not in privacy mode. I've experienced this on more than one occasion. Usually the privacy mode seems to activate on the in-cloud-car when the real car is traveling through some spotty cellular coverage, and it takes a few hours in good cellular coverage for it to reset itself. While the in-cloud-car-copy is in privacy mode, you will still receive notifications from the real car if the car has cellular connection, but you will not be able to do most things. Poor design choice on Porsche's part, though I strongly suspect it's backed by marketing research which says that customers are happier when the app fakes the status of the car, than if the app tells them the car cannot be reached. The fake privacy mode is just a bug though, nobody at Porsche bothered setting up a test where the real car has spotty cellular coverage.

 

[anonymouse]

I haven’t had this yet in my j1.2 Taycan but I used to get it regularly in my j.1. Typical scenario was that I was accessing remotely, eg on a train, and my mobile lost coverage. The Porsche software panics and goes into privacy mode which is not restored until I unlock the car. Annoying.

 

[tigerbalm]

I’m wondering if this would be how someone could steal a Taycan. Just gain access to the car, activate privacy mode and drive away. You can’t see your vehicle on the map. Taycan should not go into privacy mode on its own.

The "see my Taycan in the app" is not a theft protection feature. Even without the bug described in this thread, someone with access to the car could disable the privacy feature from the PCM anyways – unless you have it set to enter your security code each time you enter the car – which very few will have due to the incovenience.

The PVTS+ feature is what you want to use if you have any theft monitoring concerns.

 

[chun]

I’ve had this in my Taycan. Privacy mode turned on mid-drive. Which turned off in no-drive causing almost an accident. Made a post at the time.

my dealer at the time gave 0 fucks, as the wheels were spinning, so clearly the car was working as intended.

 

[Gino]

MyPorsche app doesn't actually show the status of the car. It shows the status of a "digital copy" of your car in the cloud. This means the app will fake the status of the car if can't actually retrieve it, even though it will show you "Just updated" - which just means the app got the state of the digital copy of your car, which may or may not be up to date, and worse, it does sometimes appear to go into privacy mode, even if the car is not in privacy mode. I've experienced this on more than one occasion. Usually the privacy mode seems to activate on the in-cloud-car when the real car is traveling through some spotty cellular coverage, and it takes a few hours in good cellular coverage for it to reset itself. While the in-cloud-car-copy is in privacy mode, you will still receive notifications from the real car if the car has cellular connection, but you will not be able to do most things. Poor design choice on Porsche's part, though I strongly suspect it's backed by marketing research which says that customers are happier when the app fakes the status of the car, than if the app tells them the car cannot be reached. The fake privacy mode is just a bug though, nobody at Porsche bothered setting up a test where the real car has spotty cellular coverage.

Thanks, makes sense

 

[Gino]

The "see my Taycan in the app" is not a theft protection feature. Even without the bug described in this thread, someone with access to the car could disable the privacy feature from the PCM anyways – unless you have it set to enter your security code each time you enter the car – which very few will have due to the incovenience.

The PVTS+ feature is what you want to use if you have any theft monitoring concerns.

Thanks

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