PSA - Mazda looking for navigation SD cards?

Purchased a "cheap" navi SD card on eBay for my 2021 CX-5 to enable the road sign recognition feature. Figured it wouldn't hurt to do an update on the card with Mazda Toolbox. This was all done back in May/June 2021. Received the email below today. I'm not super worried about it, but I probably won't be doing any more updates with this SD card and Mazda Toolbox.

Dear [my real name],

We would like to ask for your help! A recent audit has shown that the Mazda Navigation SD card you have registered in NNG’s Naviextras system is involved in a large-scale piracy operation.

NNG is committed to stop all illegal activities, therefore we would like to kindly ask you to help us identify the source of these fraudulent cards by sending the following information to piracy@nng.com:
  • The name and address/website of the seller where you obtained your SD card
  • An image of the front and back of the card
  • A copy of your receipt
Furthermore, we recommend contacting an authorized Mazda Dealership and purchasing a legal version of Mazda Navigation SD Card.

Continuing to use the fraudulent SD Card may expose your vehicle to damage and cyber security risks, therefore we recommend that you return the card to the original seller and report the fraud to the appropriate marketplace.

Thank you in advance,
Naviextras Team
 
Purchased a "cheap" navi SD card on eBay for my 2021 CX-5 to enable the road sign recognition feature. Figured it wouldn't hurt to do an update on the card with Mazda Toolbox. This was all done back in May/June 2021. Received the email below today. I'm not super worried about it, but I probably won't be doing any more updates with this SD card and Mazda Toolbox.

Dear [my real name],

We would like to ask for your help! A recent audit has shown that the Mazda Navigation SD card you have registered in NNG’s Naviextras system is involved in a large-scale piracy operation.

NNG is committed to stop all illegal activities, therefore we would like to kindly ask you to help us identify the source of these fraudulent cards by sending the following information to piracy@nng.com:
  • The name and address/website of the seller where you obtained your SD card
  • An image of the front and back of the card
  • A copy of your receipt
Furthermore, we recommend contacting an authorized Mazda Dealership and purchasing a legal version of Mazda Navigation SD Card.

Continuing to use the fraudulent SD Card may expose your vehicle to damage and cyber security risks, therefore we recommend that you return the card to the original seller and report the fraud to the appropriate marketplace.

Thank you in advance,
Naviextras Team

You didn't say how well, or not, the "cheap" card worked in your system. Were you able to update it with the Toolbox? Did it work as expected?

Will you be cooperating with Mazda and supplying the requested info?
 
It was mentioned some time ago that almost all cards on ebay and amazon are pirated but nobody believed back then.
As far as we have seen reports it was possible for those to be updated before but since the sale and cloning became so widespread eventually. Mazda (and the Map creator/vendor) it seems figured out a way to block those along with the cars VINs. So now if an update is tried it seems it locks your account and map card cannot be uipdated as well.
Kind of similar happened with the Infotainment updates. They are paid service. Thus the reason why all free downloads were taken offline by Mazda request.
 
You didn't say how well, or not, the "cheap" card worked in your system. Were you able to update it with the Toolbox? Did it work as expected?

Will you be cooperating with Mazda and supplying the requested info?
The card worked perfectly. After it paired with the car after x miles driven, I was able to do a map update with Mazda Toolbox.

Will I be cooperating with Naviextras (not Mazda)? No. I bought the card for the sole purpose of turning on the traffic sign recognition system, which IMHO shouldn't be tied to having factory navigation. I couldn't care less for the maps.

I'm well past the return window for the card, and they want me to go pay full price for a replacement card, and I have to give them info that they want? It's not a fair exchange at all. They should have been more prudent to secure their intellectual property. If I received a warning of piracy as soon as Mazda Toolbox was paired with the card, then it would be a different story.

I don't believe they have a viable way to actually stop the card from working as long as I don't use the Mazda toolbox again. I suppose they could supply the VIN to dealership and have them deal with it, but that would be too heavy handed. Dealers don't have enough skin in the game to ruin customer relationships by yanking SD cards from customer vehicles.
 
Side bar. Sorry.
> traffic sign recognition system
I have it on my '17. I thought it is purely camera-based recognition.
Does it need info from map?
Case in point. Around my neighborhood there is a stop sign.
It recognizes it sometimes, but not all the times.
This leads me to believe that sign recognition is purely camera-based.

Maybe 2021 model has an improved system.
 
Side bar. Sorry.
> traffic sign recognition system
I have it on my '17. I thought it is purely camera-based recognition.
Does it need info from map?
Case in point. Around my neighborhood there is a stop sign.
It recognizes it sometimes, but not all the times.
This leads me to believe that sign recognition is purely camera-based.
From what I can tell, it's purely camera based. However, the "on" switch is the presence of a navigation SD.
 
I think they got it from Mazda Toolbox. I believe I had to create an account to use the software and perform the map update.
Ah yes that could be it. So at worst they disable future updates? Navi still would work I assume? It sucks buying a car at almost $40k and not have that little card is not included 😩
 
The cards worthless. Google maps is by far superior. With the Garmin a close 2nd. And car navs lucky to place 10th after all other gps. Google map on a cellphone mount is all I use.
 
Purchased a "cheap" navi SD card on eBay for my 2021 CX-5 to enable the road sign recognition feature. Figured it wouldn't hurt to do an update on the card with Mazda Toolbox. This was all done back in May/June 2021. Received the email below today. I'm not super worried about it, but I probably won't be doing any more updates with this SD card and Mazda Toolbox.

Dear [my real name],

We would like to ask for your help! A recent audit has shown that the Mazda Navigation SD card you have registered in NNG’s Naviextras system is involved in a large-scale piracy operation.

NNG is committed to stop all illegal activities, therefore we would like to kindly ask you to help us identify the source of these fraudulent cards by sending the following information to piracy@nng.com:
  • The name and address/website of the seller where you obtained your SD card
  • An image of the front and back of the card
  • A copy of your receipt
Furthermore, we recommend contacting an authorized Mazda Dealership and purchasing a legal version of Mazda Navigation SD Card.

Continuing to use the fraudulent SD Card may expose your vehicle to damage and cyber security risks, therefore we recommend that you return the card to the original seller and report the fraud to the appropriate marketplace.

Thank you in advance,
Naviextras Team
Wow! Mazda seems to be vigorously defending its right to charge usurious prices for inexpensive, outdated technology. I mean, if we were talking about cutting edge technology, that’s one thing. Google Maps: Free, SD card: $8.99, Mazda navigation software + SD card: $399.95. It’s a vulgar display of greed. 3A8FFCBC-11CC-421C-9C23-5F5A93C08B85.jpeg1A0736A5-EB6F-49DD-855B-CC2069A443C8.jpeg
 
Whenever you bring your car to the dealership you should probably remove the card. I think they took a file of vins that did updates and compared it to a file of sales, and a report of those vehicles that didn't pay Mazda for the nav system were put on a report. They could identify these people by the total price of the vehicle.
 
Whenever you bring your car to the dealership you should probably remove the card. I think they took a file of vins that did updates and compared it to a file of sales, and a report of those vehicles that didn't pay Mazda for the nav system were put on a report. They could identify these people by the total price of the vehicle.
Unlikely this was the method. You can purchase genuine, full priced cards from Mazda without providing a VIN. The cards would be legitimate and are designed to work in any of these vehicles.
 
The cards worthless. Google maps is by far superior. With the Garmin a close 2nd. And car navs lucky to place 10th after all other gps. Google map on a cellphone mount is all I use.
Phones are too small and fiddly. Hard to read. Dangerous to use moving.

Scroogle is intolerably invasive. Will not be tracked.

The OEM system in my CX-5 is too "Mother may I", but it works. It's far better than the 2015 system. I gave up and used my Garmin (by far the best and easiest system to use) in the 2015.
 
wonder what Mazda would say about my backup card, taken from my totaled 2015.
 
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If you did the update with your home PC, they'd have your IP address. Wouldn't that be enough to trace you down? Years ago, people downloaded pirated movies and all sort of stuff online without paying, but many of them got caught and sued for hefty damage. Not all of them got caught only a few unlucky ones to show the they're serious and discourage piracy.

I know Mazda's Nav system is primitive, I have it and I don't use it. But you still didn't pay for it. I wish you the best.
 
If you did the update with your home PC, they'd have your IP address. Wouldn't that be enough to trace you down? Years ago, people downloaded pirated movies and all sort of stuff online without paying, but many of them got caught and sued for hefty damage. Not all of them got caught only a few unlucky ones to show the they're serious and discourage piracy.

I know Mazda's Nav system is primitive, I have it and I don't use it. But you still didn't pay for it. I wish you the best.
Personally, I think if the pirated SD cards have become such a problem for Mazda that they are actually tracking sales of SD cards at dealers and locking Mazda Toolbox accounts by VIN’s that have no dealer purchase record for an SD card, they should listen to what the market is telling them and lower the price. If they did that, normal sales for their navigation SD cards would resume and they could actually make SOMETHING on them. It would save a lot of time and energy and money to not have to police the market for the product. They just CAN’T let go of their 4,000% markup price. That they even have the audacity to charge $400 for an SD card with awful software is shocking to me. It shouldn’t be, I know. This is America. Greed is good. But still…
 
Whenever you bring your car to the dealership you should probably remove the card. I think they took a file of vins that did updates and compared it to a file of sales, and a report of those vehicles that didn't pay Mazda for the nav system were put on a report. They could identify these people by the total price of the vehicle.

Do you actually think that Mazda would instruct their dealers to remove a suspected pirated navigation card from a customer's vehicle when said vehicle was brought into the dealership for work? Can you imagine the stink that would be generated if a mistake was made and the card was not a pirated card? I seriously doubt that Mazda would take that chance.
 
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