Sure some safety features, like sending out a request for help when an accident occurs, might require tracking. But other systems like adaptive cruise control or active lane keep assist shouldn't require tracking. There needs to be a good reason for disabling tracking to disable a safety feature.
The "advanced safety" option is auto-braking and lane departure warning. All onboard sensors. That doesn't require phoning home.
It's supposedly possible to turn off tracking. There's a "privacy opt out". That means you no longer get the "Monthly Vehicle Report" emailed to you.[1] The question is whether it really means that communications with the mothership stops. Companies lying about opt-out is common.[2][3]
None of that requires tracking when the feature isn't in use.
It could be built so that the air bag deployment is what enables the cellular connection to operate. Until the air bags deploy, the radio doesn't get any electrical power.
I'd love a vehicle that is completely radio silent, incapable of transmitting or receiving, until there is a crash.
