Hidden GPS logging when set to off

I'm reminded of when I worked in medical research and dealt with a custom database system. There was an undocumented feature that recorded the dates when records were created and updated. When I learned of this I thought it would useful to plot some graphs of this.

That put a few noses out of joint, I can tell you. It did not tally with how much work the data entry people said they were doing.

I suggested it was an unreliable feature and may have been undocumented for just that reason. And we never mentioned it again!

The moral is, be careful with having features you leave undocumented. Be even more careful about letting people find out about them.

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Rayny2e said:
I just bought the new A119S version 2 and I don't like it one BIT that when you set GPS off in the menu,it's NOT really off.. WTH?? What purpose does that setting really serve then?
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it disables the time sync function, that's needed in some regions that are not covered by the timezone settings

Rayny2e said:
I take my Camera out of the Car every day so that was the ONLY reason I installed a GPS mount. If i unplug the Camera every single day,the connection won't last long at all.
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the connector is rated for 10,000 insertions, you should wear out the plastic mount or the camera before you'd wear out the connector

Rayny2e said:
I need to have that Permanent mount with Electrical connection on it just like the GPS Mount but without GPS enabled. Would it possible to have the same mount configuration with just a Pass Through for voltage and NO Gps?
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that's probably a more logical option for those that only want the mount for the quick release feature and not for GPS

Rayny2e said:
Could a new Firmware fix this.
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@viofo has already said they are looking into it to see if they can disable GPS altogether without it creating any other problems
 
jokiin said:
it disables the time sync function, that's needed in some regions that are not covered by the timezone settings



the connector is rated for 10,000 insertions, you should wear out the plastic mount or the camera before you'd wear out the connector



that's probably a more logical option for those that only want the mount for the quick release feature and not for GPS



@viofo has already said they are looking into it to see if they can disable GPS altogether without it creating any other problems
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Thank you very much for your reply. I am hoping a new firmware will take care of this concern.
 
@viofo has already said they are looking into it to see if they can disable GPS altogether without it creating any other problems
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@jokiin That's awesome. Mind sharing the source?
 
the connector is NOT rated for 10,000 insertions...both of mine were defective right out of the box brand new causing rebooting and flickering... I've seen dozens of others saying the same thing.
 
ElectricalFluke said:
the connector is NOT rated for 10,000 insertions...both of mine were defective right out of the box brand new causing rebooting and flickering... I've seen dozens of others saying the same thing.
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the USB connector in the side of the camera, not talking about the mount
 
Why not just use the other bracket and buy a 90 degree angled charging cable? or not speed.
 
Even if you could remove the gps info from the videos on pc it'll show the modified date. I'd like to have gps to keep time due to BST and GMT in the UK so no manual change but not saving speed data in the videos. So gps off for speed and gps data but sync time and date option.

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I purchased an A119 V2 from Amazon (via OCD Tronic) last week, and just discovered this when going through the recorded video files. I bought the version with the GPS mainly for the powered mount and thought I could just disable the GPS via the menu option and, had it turned off during the last few days. This would definitely have been a factor in my buying decision. I'll now have to consider other less convenient workarounds like a right angle adapter and the non GPS mount.
 
Thanks for your business. FYI If it's a big court battle your speed can easily be determined by any fixed object and the frames per second calculation. (Even without GPS)
 
I would assume that if you put some cellophane or electrical tape over the two contacts on the back of the camera
that operate the GPS while leaving the two contacts that power the camera bare you could easily disable the GSP functionality.
It would simply involve a little testing to determine which contacts to cover.
viofo.jpg
 
OCD Tronic said:
Thanks for your business. FYI If it's a big court battle your speed can easily be determined by any fixed object and the frames per second calculation. (Even without GPS)
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Of course, but that is different from loading up the video files into Dashcam Viewer and getting a full picture of your driving habits. Not having that immediately available challenges your legal opponent to do lots of legwork to do that research or just concentrate on the specific incident. The vehicle telemetry data may contain much of this anyway, but it is reasonable to expect that when you switch the GPS off, it is actually off without having to resort to hacks.
 
alex50 said:
Of course, but that is different from loading up the video files into Dashcam Viewer and getting a full picture of your driving habits. Not having that immediately available challenges your legal opponent to do lots of legwork to do that research or just concentrate on the specific incident. The vehicle telemetry data may contain much of this anyway, but it is reasonable to expect that when you switch the GPS off, it is actually off without having to resort to hacks.
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This was said to be fixed with upcoming firmware someday. I raised the same concern when I bought mine.
 
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