OnStar Begins Spying On Customers’ GPS Location For Profit

[Toasty]

The TOS also doesn't say that they will sell your info to whatever 3rd party comes waving money at them... it specifically says partners that they co-market with... insurance companies (onstar discount?), and mfgr - e.g. chevy, buick, gmc, cadillac, etc.... which has your info anyway if you bought a car from them.

the sharkfin antenna looks easy enough to cover with it's own tinfoil hat if you feel necessary

[DarkSS]

I am getting rid of my cars and buying horses....crap, they might micro-chip the horse, forget it, I'll just walk from now on.

[FreakyFastFreddie]

The biggest thing I have always been concerned about with OnStar is if you are in an accident and someone is seriously hurt, the lawyers will be all over getting information from OnStar to make their case against you.

I wonder though, with the GPS function on my cell phone turned on, could they get the same information from my cell phone provider.

Seems like BIG BROTHER has more and more ways to watch us. Cable/Satellite, Internet, Cell Phones, Car Computers...... Don't think there's anyway of winning this battle. Just do your best to abide by the laws, stay out of trouble, and let the chips fall where they may.

Good idea to have a good umbrella insurance policy.

I will say that I like getting the OnStar report on my car every month.

[VenomInside]

[The SS]

I called OnStar & they said you can opt out???? The cancelation dept. handles this but they were closed. I'm gonna try again tomorrow......

[libertyforall1776]

Not surprising that OnStar/GM is not a member of the Digital Due Process (DDP) coalition, which is supporting amendments to ensure the government can't track your cell phone or obtain online content such as emails, photos, documents and backup files without first going to court to get a search warrant.

According to the EFF, the current version of the ECPA (Electronic Communications Privacy Act) is vague on whether these documents and information -- including the tracking of your cell phone -- are presently protected from government intrusion without any form of warrant.

OnStar is in part, basically a cell phone... No word on if they manufacture it with any tin foil...

Digital Due Process :: Who We Are

[HumanWiki]

Meh... Tin foil is for amateurs... I went with a Binford 6200 Intracranial Faraday Cage a long time ago..

[libertyforall1776]

More news on this topic:
GM's OnStar Unit Alters Privacy Policy, Drawing Senators' Wrath


Another related OnStar 'feature', video:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e_ZeYy3qjs]GM OnStar High Speed Pursuit Preventive Technology - YouTube[/ame]


GM's OnStar Unit Alters Privacy Policy, Drawing Senators' Wrath
Eric Engleman, ©2011 Bloomberg News

Friday, September 23, 2011

Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Co.'s OnStar vehicle navigation service revised its customer-data policy in a way that appears to "violate basic principles of privacy and fairness," two U.S. senators wrote in a letter to the company.

OnStar told customers in an e-mail this week that it may continue collecting data from vehicles of subscribers who have canceled the service. Customers must contact OnStar to halt the data collection under the policy change effective Dec. 1, according to the e-mail.

Democratic senators Al Franken of Minnesota and Christopher Coons of Delaware objected to the change in a Sept. 21 letter to OnStar that urged the company to reconsider its data policy.

"OnStar is telling its current and former customers that it can track their location anywhere, anytime -- even if they cancel their subscriptions -- and then give or sell that information to anyone as long as OnStar deems it safe to do so," the lawmakers wrote.

OnStar will respond directly to the senators, OnStar spokesman Adam Denison said. He declined to say when the company would reply or share details of its response.

OnStar delivers navigation and security features such as emergency assistance to GM cars using the global-positioning system. The service has more than 6 million customers in the U.S., Canada and China, according to the company's website.

Franken and Coons asked the company whether it has experienced any leaks of customer information and what it does to protect such data. The senators said OnStar's actions underscore the need for legislation to protect consumer information online including people's location.


Privacy Bill


"OnStar's actions appear to violate basic principles of privacy and fairness for OnStar's approximately six million customers -- especially for those customers who have already ended their relationships with your company," the senators wrote.

Franken introduced a bill in June that would require companies such as Apple Inc. and Google Inc. and mobile- application developers to obtain permission from mobile devices such as smartphones before collecting location data and sharing that information with third parties.

Franken, who chairs the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on privacy, technology and the law, held a May 10 hearing on mobile privacy with executives from Apple and Google.

His location bill is co-sponsored by Coons and Democratic senators Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Richard Durbin of Illinois, and Robert Menendez of New Jersey, along with Bernard Sanders of Vermont, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, Coons spokesman Ian Koski said in an e-mail.



Read more: GM's OnStar Unit Alters Privacy Policy, Drawing Senators' Wrath

[HumanWiki]

It's dead..

OnStar got exactly what they deserved for it..



OnStar Reverses Decision to Change Terms and Conditions
GM News - United States - News

[DarkSS]

I figured that would happen. Can I take the foil hat off now?

[HumanWiki]

I figured that would happen. Can I take the foil hat off now?

I'm leaving mine on because it's embedded..

[libertyforall1776]

TomTom was also caught selling customer data this year:
TomTom apologise for selling customer satnav data used for police speed traps | Mail Online

TomTom To Sell GPS Data To Road Authorities, Private Companies

It is not dead, this is a temporary measure to fool people. TomTom took the same tactic in the past where they were sharing/selling data, stopped, but guess what, reportedly they are doing it AGAIN.

So will OnStar!


Not only that, but Maryland is testing an in-car spy system, I'm sure other states are thinking similar 1984 schemes:


Maryland MVA Trials In-Car Spy System Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind!

This is real.

[Lawdog]

I think in our lifetime we will see someone to introduce a bill requiring auto manufacturers to install a device that warns individuals when they are exceeding the limit of the highway they a are on in all autos. They will introduce the bill as a safety measure of course, then it will be used to corroborate the radar read of the officer. He will simply walk up to the car and below your vin will be a bar code and he will scan it with a handheld scanner and it will tell him your last speed warning and GPS location. Something like that is coming. Be very Afraid, LOL

I like the onstar slow down idea, it is I think a good idea to stop criminals, however, I see the potential for it to be used to monitor our speeds and provide error tight proof of violating the speed limit. Those records could be obtained in a court case and if a fatality was involved they probably would be requested for sure.

That would just open the door in Divorce cases to prove somebody wasnt where they were supose to be, LOL.

[Xello]

I think in our lifetime we will see someone to introduce a bill requiring auto manufacturers to install a device that warns individuals when they are exceeding the limit of the highway they a are on in all autos. They will introduce the bill as a safety measure of course, then it will be used to corroborate the radar read of the officer. He will simply walk up to the car and below your vin will be a bar code and he will scan it with a handheld scanner and it will tell him your last speed warning and GPS location. Something like that is coming. Be very Afraid, LOL

I like the onstar slow down idea, it is I think a good idea to stop criminals, however, I see the potential for it to be used to monitor our speeds and provide error tight proof of violating the speed limit. Those records could be obtained in a court case and if a fatality was involved they probably would be requested for sure.

That would just open the door in Divorce cases to prove somebody wasnt where they were supose to be, LOL.

Speed warning in cars is already here and it doesnt require data tracking to be accomplished.

More likely though is a two-way GPS connection (which more than likely would be stored) so that vehicles can talk to each other and avoid collision. I for one, welcome that technology.

[HumanWiki]

I don't.. not if it's at all anything like what I see constantly in the tech realm... You think it's bad having your PC or Cell hijacked?

Just wait till communication and control systems like that start getting readily compromised..

My issue isn't with the technology.. It's with the people out there that can misuse it..

If I get my PC hacked.. Great, I lose some data, have to change passwords and maybe cancel some bank cards --- There's a real possibility that I could be killed or seriously injured if my car is equally compromised.