Get Data privacy Guide for Audi Q8 SUV First Generation (2018-2026)

Data privacy

Your vehicle is equipped with electronic control

modules for various vehicle systems such as the

airbags. These vehicle control modules store data

while driving normally that is required by an au-

thorized Audi dealer or authorized Audi Service

Facility for diagnosis and repair purposes. Only

certain types of data are recorded for a very short

period of time if a control module has detected a

system event. No noises, conversations, or im-

ages inside the vehicle will be recorded.

Data privacy

Privacy notice

You can find information about data privacy on-

line on the Audi website for your particular coun-

try or sales region, or in the vehicle MMI.

Applies to: MMI: Select on the home screen: SET-

TINGS > General > Legal notes > About Audi

connect.

The data may include information such as the ve-

hicle speed, the direction of travel, and informa-

tion about the brake system, or also the behavior

of the restraint system in the event of a collision.

The stored data can be exported and downloaded

with special devices, which must be connected di-

rectly to the vehicle.

Image recording

Surrounding area monitoring

Applies to: vehicles with surrounding area monitoring

The functionality of the park assist plus requires

detecting and evaluating the vehicle's path. This

is done by cameras installed permanently on the

vehicle that detect objects in the vehicle's sur-

roundings (such as obstacles or guard rails). The

live images from the cameras are transmitted to

the applicable control module.

On Board Diagnostic System (OBD)

There is a diagnostic connector port in the driv-

er's side footwell to read out the various control

modules and the event data recorder. Data re-

garding the function and condition of the elec-

tronic control modules is stored in the event

memory. Only have an authorized Audi dealer or

authorized Audi Service Facility read out and

clear data from the event memory.

The camera images are transferred to the respon-

sible control module for processing and may be

stored, depending on vehicle equipment. The

control module analyzes the current camera im-

age using image evaluation software. This image

evaluation software detects anonymized techni-

cal measurements, such as distances to objects.

The control module evaluates these technical

measurements and makes it possible for the as-

sist systems to control the vehicle as needed.

WARNING

– Incorrect use of the connection port for the

On Board Diagnostic System can cause mal-

functions, which can then result in accidents

and serious injuries.

– Only allow an authorized Audi dealer or au-

thorized Audi Service Facility to read out the

data.

Data storage

Vehicle control modules

Crash data recorder

Event Data Recorder

This vehicle is equipped with an Event Data Re-

corder (EDR). The main purpose of an EDR is to

record, in certain crash or near crash-like situa-

tions, such as an airbag deployment or hitting a

road obstacle, data that will assist in understand-

ing how a vehicle's system performed. The EDR is

designed to record data related to vehicle dy-

namics and safety systems for a short period of

Fig. 195 Driver's side footwell: connection port for the On

Board Diagnostic System (OBD)



320

Data privacy

time, typically 30 seconds or less. The EDR in this

vehicle is designed to record such data as:

by ESC, ABS, Audi pre sense, etc.), and assist sys-

tem settings (such as speed settings).

– How various systems in your vehicle were oper-

ating;

Special devices and access to the vehicle or to the

ASM are necessary in order to read the data from

the ASM memory. In addition to the vehicle man-

ufacturer, third parties such as law enforcement

authorities can also read and analyze the stored

data if they have access to the vehicle or to the

ASM.

– Whether or not the driver and passenger safety

belts were buckled/fastened;

– How far (if at all) the driver was depressing the

accelerator and/or brake pedal; and,

– How fast the vehicle was traveling.

These data can help provide a better understand-

ing of the circumstances in which crashes and in-

juries occur. NOTE: EDR data are recorded by your

vehicle only if a non-trivial crash situation occurs;

no data are recorded by the EDR under normal

driving conditions and no personal data (e.g.

name, gender, age, and crash location) are re-

corded. However, other parties, such as law en-

forcement, could combine the EDR data with the

type of personally identifying data routinely ac-

quired during a crash investigation.

Data usage

Audi can read out the information stored in the

data memories or similar data, or give this infor-

mation to third parties, especially in the follow-

ing situations:

– If the vehicle owner or lessee agrees

– If there is an official request from the police

– If a court or authorities request it

If legally permitted, Audi can also use the data

for analysis of vehicle operation and safety per-

formance or provide this data to third parties for

research purposes.

To read data recorded by an EDR, special equip-

ment is required, and access to the vehicle or the

EDR is needed. In addition to the vehicle manu-

facturer, other parties, such as law enforcement,

that have the special equipment, can read the in-

formation if they have access to the vehicle or the

EDR.

Data memory for autonomous driving

Applies to: vehicles with data memory for autonomous driv-

ing

When park assist plus is active ðpage 184, data

is stored in a memory in the vehicle. This data is

encrypted and is continuously overwritten by

more current data after a few seconds. The data

is erased when the ignition is turned off.

Assist system monitor

This vehicle is equipped with an Assist System

Monitor (ASM). The ASM collects data that is not

stored by the EDR in the event of an accident. The

main task of the ASM is to make it possible to un-

derstand the role and the behavior of the assist

systems in these accident situations. In addition

to the data that the EDR stores, the ASM records

data related to the assist systems starting sever-

al seconds before the accident or near-accident.

The data collected by ASM depends on the equip-

ment and may include the following information:

status information of the assist systems (for ex-

ample, if they are turned on or off, system

In certain situations, such as if an airbag has de-

ployed or a parking process has been ended,

technical data about this may be stored in the da-

ta memory for autonomous driving. The data

memory for autonomous driving is a read-only

memory that has a limited amount of storage

space. If the storage space is full, the oldest data

will be overwritten with the newest data.



events, etc.), control interventions (for example,

System availability may be limited depending on the mar-

ket.

321

Data privacy

Exporting data

Transmitted information

You can read out the data memory for autono-

mous driving and export this data to a USB stick.

The settings depend on the vehicle equipment.

Data collection

Applies to: vehicles with data collection

Depending on the country, Audi may be able to

access the vehicle and collect data, for example

for the following reasons:

– Data collection for research and development

– Data collection for statistics, analytics, and re-

porting

Requirement: the vehicle must be stationary, the

automated systems must not be active, and the

ignition must be turned on. A USB stick must be

connected to the USB input.

►

Applies to: MMI: Select on the home screen:

SETTINGS > Data management > Statistics.

– Data collection for personalized evaluations

►

Follow the instructions in the MMI.

For example, various technical function data, en-

vironmental data, driving data, and usage data

will be collected for a specific purpose and for-

warded to Audi. The data will be sent from the

vehicle at the time the data is collected.

The export will be canceled if you switch menus,

for example.

Recorded data

The following data is recorded with encryption:

You can find additional information in the MMI.

Select on the home screen: SETTINGS > General

> Legal notes > About Audi connect.

– Interactions from the driver (such as pressing

the brake pedal)

– Vehicle dynamics (such as speed)

– Status of automated systems

If you would like to change the data collection

settings, contact an authorized Audi dealer or au-

thorized Audi Service Facility for more informa-

tion. Depending on the country and equipment,

you may be able to change data collection in the

privacy mode settings of your vehicle.

– Control requests

– Relevant measurements from monitoring the

surroundings

– Image data from monitoring the surroundings

– System status, timestamp, and vehicle location

when deactivating/activating park assist plus

Privacy settings

You can find additional information in the MMI:

Applies to: vehicles with Audi connect

– Applies to: MMI: Select on the home screen:

SETTINGS > General > Legal notes > About the

data memory.

►

Applies to MMI: Select on the home screen:

SETTINGS > Privacy mode settings.

►

To display additional information about the pri-

Tips

vacy settings and the associated symbols in the

– The data is processed and stored locally in

the vehicle. It is not automatically transmit-

ted to Audi or other third parties, for exam-

ple through the cloud. The owner or driver is

responsible for the data. Audi does not have

access to it.

status bar, press  in the MMI.

Requirement: the ignition must be turned on.

Setting the maximum privacy settings

When the Activate privacy mode function is

turned on, the data connection is deactivated or

sending of data is restricted, but all safety-relat-

ed, legal, or contractually required Audi connect

services remain activated. The majority of the

Audi connect services are deactivated.

– For additional information and the evalua-

tion of data, please contact Audi Customer

Care.

When the function is turned off, the data connec-

tion will be available in order to use Audi connect 

322

Data privacy

services. After turning off the Activate privacy

mode function, check the individual data catego-

ries as described under Adjusting individual pri-

vacy settings.

– If the transmission of data is limited, it will

have the following effects on the exchange

of data for Audi connect services and emer-

gency calls, if equipped:

– The emergency call function will remain

available without restrictions and will con-

tinue to transmit data.

Adjusting individual privacy settings

In the MMI, you can adjust individually which data

should be transmitted from the vehicle. If you

turn on a data category, the data will be trans-

mitted.

– If an online roadside assistance call is initi-

ated, no data will be transmitted, but a

call will be made.

– Online Car Care will remain available with-

out restrictions and continue to transmit

data, as long as the vehicle’s embedded

SIM card is connected to the mobile phone

network.

You can also deactivate individual services for

your vehicle at if you are logged into

the vehicle as the key user ðpage 34. These de-

activated services will not be available in the ve-

hicle. For additional information, visit .

– If the Geofencing Alert, Speed Alert,

and/or Valet Alert services have been acti-

vated by the key user, then they will re-

main available without restrictions and

continue to transmit data.

com.

Note

You are responsible for all precautions taken

for data protection, anti-virus protection, and

protection against loss of data on mobile de-

vices that are used to access the Internet

through the Wi-Fi hotspot.

– Stored destinations (favorites, last desti-

nations) are only stored in the vehicle. If

you allow transmission of data again,

these destinations will be synchronized via

the myAudi account. To prevent synchroni-

zation of destinations, delete the destina-

tions before you allow data to be trans-

mitted again.

Tips

– The following interfaces are not affected by

changes to the privacy settings: Bluetooth,

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Wi-Fi, smart-

phone interface, Near Field Communication

(NFC), charging communication (high-volt-

age system), Electronic Toll Collect (ETC),

On-Board Diagnostic System (OBD) if equip-

ped.

Audi connect

Applies to: vehicles with Audi connect Infotainment

Audi collects, uses, stores and shares your per-

sonal information, such as contact data, vehicle

data, usage data, driving data and precise geolo-

cation, in order to provide you with the products

and services you have purchased or requested,

and for a number of other purposes, for example,

to track quality issues, to performance and safe-

ty, to meet our internal compliance or legal re-

quirements and to market to customers and po-

tential customers. For a more complete list of

the data we collect, how we use it and with

whom we share it, please visit your Audi nation-

– If the maximum privacy settings are turned

on, your vehicle may not receive certificates

and security updates for establishing a se-

cure connection, depending on vehicle

equipment. In order to receive security up-

dates and certificates, turn off the maxi-

mum privacy settings for at least ten mi-

nutes every three months. Make sure that

your vehicle is connected to the Internet. A

symbol in the MMI status bar indicates if the

required data connection is available

ðpage 26.



In certain countries.

323

Data privacy

The collection, use and sharing may vary depend-

ing on your model and model year, your subscrip-

tion status, or the service offering. For example,

collection, use and sharing may vary between

Audi connect services, if you have designated a

key user, or if you are driving a model equipped

with persistent data logging. Please review the

complete Privacy Statement to understand our

data handling practices with respect to a particu-

lar service.

You can find additional information about our da-

ta privacy practices in your MMI.

►

Applies to: MMI: On the home screen, select:

SETTINGS > General > Legal notes > About

Audi connect.

Information about our privacy practices in con-

junction with the mobile Audi connect applica-

tion can be found in the Application’s Privacy

Statement.

For additional information about the privacy

practices relating to Audi connect, myAudi, or

other websites, applications or online services as

well as your obligations with respect to using

these services, and for additional information re-

garding Audi connect terms and conditions,

please visit your Audi national/sales region web-

324

Data privacy for Your Audi Q8 SUV First Generation (2018-2026)

Related Topics

Popular Owner Manuals

Latest Owner Manuals