I'm not assuming here and by "shut off permanently" I thing you mean "in the off position permanently" like most other vehicles unless you choose to engage it. Because to pull a fuse or disconnect a sensor or brake motor could be dangerous. The car would no longer have the ability to stop if there were another vehicle, child or deer on a road or in a parking lot that you don't see moving. I could see the point of safety for Mazda to do this but I don't like it. Now they're changing a thing that no one has ever had to do and we do not like change. I could see doing this so that people buckle up before they drive off. Some motorists drive away while putting that seatbelt on which is not safe.
I'm hoping the dealers get software to allow owners to be able to set it to not engaging itself each time automatically. It adds an extra thing to do. As a general practice I always put the belt on, then place it in drive, take a look around, then drive away. If I forget that brake on and the pavement is dry I could risk braking some component on my new vehicle that warranty may not cover. This is the first vehicle I've ever had that it turns on each time I leave the car and having to disengage it I must now think more. Like most folks I want to think less not more...that's the whole point of technology. I do get the safety aspect of it but I live on a flat street on PEI where the whole island is mostly flat. Just this morning...I had my seatbelt bucked, placed it in drive, pressed the gas pedal and it didn't disengage. The back end just squats down each time. I hope that this is updated via a software bulletin through the dealer. It would be a shame that drivers start breaking components on their Cx-30 because they forget the park brake sets automatically and don't see that little amber light is still on.
Will try that next time..
