Mercedes-Benz E-Class Wagon Operator's Manual page 32

30 30 General notes
can be found in the information directly related to
the functional characteristics in question in their
respective Operator's Manual. This information is
also available online and, depending on the vehi-
cle equipment, digitally.
P P er ersonal data sonal data
Every vehicle is identi ed by a unique vehicle
identi cation number. Depending on the country,
this vehicle identi cation number can be used by,
for example, governmental authorities to deter-
mine the identity of the owner. There are other
possibilities to use data collected from the vehicle
to identify the owner or driver, such as the license
plate number.
Therefore, data generated or processed by control
units may be attributable to a person or, under
certain conditions, become attributable to a per-
son. Depending on which vehicle data are availa-
ble, it may be possible to make inferences about,
for example, your driving behavior, your location,
your route or your use patterns.
Legal r Leg al req equir uirements r ements reg egar arding t ding the disclosur he disclosure of
data data
If legally required to do so, manufacturers are, in
individual cases, legally obliged to provide govern-
mental entities, upon request and to the extent
required, data stored by the manufacturer. For
example, this may be the case during the investi-
gation of a criminal o ense.
Governmental entities are themselves, in individ-
ual cases and within the applicable legal frame-
work, authorized to read out data from the vehi-
cle. In the case of an accident, information that
can help with an investigation can, therefore, be
taken from the airbag control unit, for example.
Oper Operational dat ational data in t a in the v he vehicle ehicle
This is data regarding the operation of the vehicle,
which have been processed by control units.
This includes the following data, for example:
Vehicle status information such as the speed,
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longitudinal acceleration, lateral acceleration,
number of wheel revolutions or the fastened
seat belts display
Ambient conditions, such as temperature, rain
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sensor or distance sensor
e of Generally, the use of these data is temporary;
they will not be stored beyond the period of oper-
ation and will only be processed within the vehicle
itself. Control units o en contain data memories
for vehicle keys, for example. Their use permits
the temporary or permanent documentation of
technical information about the vehicle's operat-
ing state, component loads, maintenance require-
ments and technical events or malfunctions.
Depending on the vehicle equipment, the follow-
ing data are stored:
Operating status of system components, such
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as ll levels, tire pressure or battery status
Malfunctions or faults in important system
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components, such as lights or brakes
System reactions in special driving situations,
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such as airbag deployment or the intervention
of stability control systems
Information on events leading to vehicle dam-
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age
In certain cases, it may be required to store data
that would have otherwise been used only tempo-
rarily. This may be the case if the vehicle has
detected a malfunction, for example.