Data Storage - Mercedes-Benz V-Class 2020 Owner's Manual

24 General notes

Data storage

Electronic control units
Electronic control units
Electronic control units are fitted in your vehicle.
Control units process data which, for example,
they receive from vehicle sensors, generate
themselves or exchange between themselves.
Some control units are required for the safe oper‐
ation of your vehicle, some assist you when driv‐
ing, such as driver assistance systems, while oth‐
ers enable comfort or infotainment functions.
The following provides you with general informa‐
tion regarding data processing in the vehicle.
Additional information regarding exactly which
data in your vehicle are collected, saved and
transmitted to third parties, and for what pur‐
pose, can be found in the information directly
related to the functional characteristics in ques‐
tion in their respective operating instructions.
This information is also available online and,
depending on the vehicle equipment, digitally.
Personal data
Every vehicle is identified by a unique vehicle
identification number. Depending on the country,
this vehicle identification number can be used by,
for example, governmental authorities to deter‐
mine the identity of the owner. There are other
possibilities for using data collected from the
vehicle to identify the owner or driver, such as
the licence plate number.
Therefore, data generated or processed by con‐
trol units may be attributable to a person or,
under certain conditions, become attributable to
a person. Depending on which vehicle data are
available, it may be possible to make inferences
about, for example, your driving behaviour, your
location, your route or your use patterns.
Legal requirements regarding the disclosure
of data
If legally required to do so, manufacturers are, in
individual cases, legally obliged to provide gov‐
ernmental entities, upon request and to the
extent required, data stored by the manufacturer.
For example, this may be the case during the
investigation of a criminal offence.
Governmental entities are themselves, in individ‐
ual cases and within the applicable legal frame‐
work, authorised 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.
Operational data in the vehicle
This is data regarding the operation of the vehi‐
cle, 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
Generally, these are volatile data and will not be
stored beyond the period of operation but will
only be processed within the vehicle itself. Con‐
trol units often contain data memories for vehicle
keys, for example. Their use permits the tempo‐
rary or permanent documentation of technical
information about the vehicle's operating state,
component loads, maintenance requirements and
technical events or faults.
Depending on the technical equipment, the fol‐
lowing data are stored:
operating status of system components, such
R
as fill levels, tyre 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 in which the vehicle is
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damaged
In certain cases, it may be required to store data
that would have otherwise been temporary. This
may be the case if the vehicle has detected a
malfunction, for example.
If you use services such as repair services and
maintenance work, stored operational data along
with the vehicle identification number can be
read out and used, where required. They can be
read out by service network employees such as
workshops and manufacturers, or third parties
such as breakdown services. The same is true in
the case of warranty claims and quality assur‐
ance measures.
In general, the readout is performed via the
legally prescribed port for the diagnostics con‐
nection in the vehicle. The operational data that
are read out document technical states of the
vehicle or of individual components and assist in
the diagnosis of malfunctions, compliance with
warranty obligations and quality improvement. To
that end, these data, in particular information