OnStar Is Tracking Your Speed And Location Even When You Cancel Your Service

[Panama]

There is a BIG difference between the "black box" and this new OnStar technology.
Apples/Oranges with today's technological advances.

I really can't think of any good purpose it serves?

More on this showed up yesterday in of all places, the New York Times.

Not that I am a fan of that rag (NYT), but when Lib's write stories about privacy issues, there must be a problem?

A paragraph form the Times story, the rest at the link below,

Changes to OnStar's Privacy Terms Rile Some Users - NYTimes.com

The OnStar issue is the latest in a growing list of privacy-related concerns brought about by advances in onboard telematics systems. A Nissan Leaf owner recently uncovered a security hole that allowed anyone to tap into a vehicle’s speed and location information. Researchers at iSec Partners, a cybersecurity consultancy, have shown how a car’s wireless connections can be exploited, using a technique known as war texting, to break into a vehicle. Continuing to gather information about a car and maintain a two-way connection, some might argue, may leave owners vulnerable to new threats.

 

[Leo]

I don't have on star, I use a tracfone, and make the majority of my purchases cash, and love my old pre technology Grand Marquis (from Texas, still rust free). Even at that, I know that there is data being collected. Every debt/credit card transaction, every in store "discount" card, every highway camera has the ability to record facts about a persons life. Purdue even has Phd level courses for quantitive sociology, so it is not like studing persons and society in general is not an open fact. I kind of wish the crooked data collectors would watch me closer. Maybe they could get a clue of what a productive, law abiding, GOD fearing, good hearted citizen looks like. From the evidence seen in politicians, it looks like they have forgotten.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

It is indeed possible to disable the onstar. There are videos out. If you do that, make sure to check it after every time you have service, especially at a dealer. They may be inclined to "repair" the disconnection.

 

[04DarkShadowGT]

Here you go a REAL LIFE example of it occuring at the state next door.
Chicago Links Street Cameras to Its 911 Network - NYTimes.com

BTW this is back from 2009. Since then the city of Chicago has expanded it's camera to now include CTA busses, CTA trains, all state and city bldg cameras, as well as private bldg cameras (facing outside) like the camera's on chase bank, etc. In essnce the entire city and then some.

But you keep thinkng it's not happening.

Yeah to monitor crime and the city, not to watch Joe Smith 24/7.

 

[CalebToNowhere]

My black box was lost in the same boating accident that claimed all of my firearms...that was a sad, sad day, indeed.

Um, i think you meant that it was destroyed by the falling satellite...

So, maybe OnStar is the reason the govt was so set on bailing out the auto industry.

 

[RockofStrength]

Yeah to monitor crime and the city, not to watch Joe Smith 24/7.

When crime can be nebulously defined as "anything that a Federal agency can make a rule against" that is hardly reassuring. See also the poor fellow who recently had his herd of deer shot and hauled off without a warning, the folks held at gunpoint by police for selling raw milk etc.

 

[Taylorz71]

You can check out anytime you want...but you can never leave.

AMEN!

 

[04DarkShadowGT]

When crime can be nebulously defined as "anything that a Federal agency can make a rule against" that is hardly reassuring. See also the poor fellow who recently had his herd of deer shot and hauled off without a warning, the folks held at gunpoint by police for selling raw milk etc.

Trust me I'm not saying things are perfect and I certainly wish this stuff was not around. But I am just not going to worry about things that I have no control over. Life is too short and hard enough as it is to worry about everything.

 

[Panama]

Life is too short and hard enough as it is to worry about everything.

EXCELLENT point! (and rep'ed for it)
I really agree with that thought, and I try to remember not to sweat the little things.

My intent was not to cause any worry, it was merely to inform those with OnStar systems, that there had been a "change" in their privacy agreements.
And also, because I thought some may not have known it had changed.

The whole thing to me is just wrong.
Kinda like a corporate window peeper, yes they are gonna be bored watching me too.
But I still don't want the bastards looking in my windows anyway!

 

[SmileDocHill]

I told my wife about this and she said a the husband of a friend of hers travels a lot, all over the country for work and got a ticket mailed to him. It was from a state that allows the camera's and computers to just photo your car when the radar hooked up to it says you are speeding, and mail you the ticket. He wasn't trying to totally dispute it but wanted to make sure it was even real and not a buddy pranking him. His logic was, I never got pulled over or anything and now I get a letter in the mail to pay for a traffic violation?. After he sent in an inquiry, they sent him the subpoenaed On-star records demonstrating how fast he was going at that particular place and time. (They didn't use the On-star info to issue the ticket, just prove their case) He had never activated his On-star at any point in the cars life.

 

[HeadlessRoland]

"Government Motors" To Track Drivers With OnStar, Sell Data to Police