dont drive a GM to the hydro shop....

[Phillthy]

this just in...

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/09/21/gms-onstar-now-spying-on-your-car-for-profit-even-after-you-uns/

By Zach Bowman RSS feed

Posted Sep 21st 2011 4:28PM
4294139
Comments371


If you're the owner of a fairly new General Motors product, you may want to take a close look at the most recent OnStar terms and conditions. As it turns out, the company has altered the parameters under which it can legally collect GPS data on your vehicle.

Originally, the terms and conditions stated that OnStar could only collect information on your vehicle's location during a theft recovery or in the midst of sending emergency services your way. That has apparently changed. Now, OnStar says that it has the right to collect and sell personal, yet supposedly anonymous information on your vehicle, including speed, location, seat belt usage and other information.

Who would be interested in that data, you ask? Law enforcement agencies, for starters, as well as insurance companies. Perhaps the most startling news to come out of the latest OnStar terms and conditions is the fact that the company can continue to collect the information even after you disconnect the service. If you want the info to be cut off all together, you'll have to specifically shut down the vehicle's data connection. If that sounds scary, you should check out a full breakdown of the new policies here.

OnStar's response after the news broke...

The following statement can be attributed to Joanne Finnorn, Vice President, Subscriber Services

"OnStar has and always will give our customers the choice in how we use their data. We've also been very open with our customers about changes in services and privacy terms.

"Under our new Terms and Conditions, when a customer cancels service, we have informed customers that OnStar will maintain a two-way connection to their vehicle unless they ask us not to do so. In the future, this connection may provide us with the capability to alert vehicle occupants about severe weather conditions such as tornado warnings or mandatory evacuations. Another benefit for keeping this connection "open" could be to provide vehicle owners with any updated warranty data or recall issues.

"Of course, if the customer requests us to turn off the two-way connection, we will do as we have always done, and that is honor customers' requests.

"Our guiding practices regarding sharing our subscribers' personal information have not changed. We are always very specific about with whom we share customers' personal information, and how they will use it. We have never sold any personally identifiable information to any third party.

"Keeping the two-way connection open will also allow OnStar to capture general vehicle information that could be used in future product development.

"We apologize for creating any confusion about our Terms and Conditions. We want to make sure we are as clear with our customers as possible, but it's apparent that we have failed to do this. As always, we are listening to our subscribers' feedback and we will continue to be open to their suggestions and concerns."

who can ya trust???

 

[GOT DANK]

NO FTW!!!!

 

[Sam the Caveman]

How did I know it would come to this the moment I saw the capabilities of OnStar.

 

[GP73LPC]

who can ya trust???

Ford

 

[Kitana]

Must be working hard to get the loan money they paid back.Back to their pockets

 

[walt cunningham]

wow that's crazy but not surprising. didn't tom tom get caught doing the same thing in uk last year?

 

[coloradochem]

rusty trusty old carburated vehicles! my 80 toyota 4x4 tells no tales.

 

[MacGyver420]

good info, not sure about this "new" onstar version; but i have disconnected a number of (older) onstar systems and its no big deal; unless GM has suddenly become amazingly complex it should still be fairly easy to fully disable; just clip a couple extra wires to make sure the damn thing is dead now i guess...

its only one of 1000 ways "the man" can track you now-a-days from cell phone triangulation to traffic light cameras linked to facial recognition software. kinda hard to live with when you take it all in

and its not just a GM thing; nearly every major car company has their own version of this now; gps tracking being a major component of it. the on-star may very well be the easiest to disable...

 

[dank.frank]

That's why I use a rental...makes no difference then.


dank.Frank

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

wow that's crazy but not surprising. didn't tom tom get caught doing the same thing in uk last year?

I don't know about tom tom but rupert rupert did.

 

[LiLWaynE]

i thought this would have been common sense? The minute I first learned of "OnStar" and what it was about, i knew we were under attack....

 

[haze4me]

damm fuckers

 

[RetroGrow]

Pretty soon, they will be chipping babies @ birth.
Your every living moment will be recorded.

 

[RetroGrow]

That's why I use a rental...makes no difference then.


dank.Frank

I do that also, but, if you think about it, they can still track the rental car back to you.

 

[LiLWaynE]

I do that also, but, if you think about it, they can still track the rental car back to you.

 

[GOT DANK]

That's why I use a rental...makes no difference then.


dank.Frank

rental has it too. and they can track it back to u

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

Remember how they found McVeigh? Shrapnel from the bomb sight (3 blocks away) had the manufacturers number on it. They traced the info to Ryder truck rentals and dumb ass McVeigh's name was on the rental ticket.

 

[MIway]

if anyone really wanted to come looking for us, they would find our tracks... all over the place.

suppose this will make it easier for them to just download, but not like staking out the dro shop is terribly difficult...? or accessing the patient database. or staking out the dip. or turning some snitch bitch. or... not really worried about onstar.

sure would be nice to push a button if fucked up in a car wreck... or if someone is trying to carjack me... or if i run across any other sort of emergency. it's just data mining for better marketing. we sold our collective asses out a long time ago... bfd, sell me some more shit.

 

[pearlemae]

Did you know onstar also has the ability to listen in on your in car conversations. Years ago the cops got a court order to force onstar to let them listen in on a criminals conversation while in his car. That took a court order, now under our great and wonderful, gonna keep us all safe, what civil rights, patriot act, the cops may not even need to ask the courts. Its why I drive a non gm car.

 

[Strainhunter]

OnStar tracking your every move!?


AWESOME!


Use it to your advantage!


BEFORE you leave your driveway plug-in your $12.99 GPS jammer, go to the Hydro store of your choice, come back home, unplug it and voila there's your (almost) perfect alibi!
Worried about OnStar's eavesdropping capability!? Get a COMBINED GPS/Cell phone signal blocker.