OnStar Begins Spying On Customers’ GPS Location For Profit
09-22-2011, 10:36 PM
#1
OnStar Begins Spying On Customers’ GPS Location For Profit I didn't see this feature advertised... 
Time to disconnect that system if you haven't already...
OnStar Begins Spying On Customers’ GPS Location For Profit | Jonathan Zdziarski's Domain
OnStar Begins Spying On Customers’ GPS Location For Profit
Posted on September 20, 2011 by Jonathan Zdziarski
I canceled the OnStar subscription on my new GMC vehicle today after receiving an email from the company about their new terms and conditions. While most people, I imagine, would hit the delete button when receiving something as exciting as new terms and conditions, being the nerd sort, I decided to have a personal drooling session and read it instead. I’m glad I did. OnStar’s latest T&C has some very unsettling updates to it, which include the ability to sell your personal GPS location information, speed, safety belt usage, and other information to third parties, including law enforcement. To add insult to a slap in the face, the company insists they will continue collecting and selling this personal information even after you cancel your service, unless you specifically shut down the data connection to the vehicle after canceling.
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Time to disconnect that system if you haven't already... OnStar Begins Spying On Customers’ GPS Location For Profit | Jonathan Zdziarski's Domain
OnStar Begins Spying On Customers’ GPS Location For Profit
Posted on September 20, 2011 by Jonathan Zdziarski
I canceled the OnStar subscription on my new GMC vehicle today after receiving an email from the company about their new terms and conditions. While most people, I imagine, would hit the delete button when receiving something as exciting as new terms and conditions, being the nerd sort, I decided to have a personal drooling session and read it instead. I’m glad I did. OnStar’s latest T&C has some very unsettling updates to it, which include the ability to sell your personal GPS location information, speed, safety belt usage, and other information to third parties, including law enforcement. To add insult to a slap in the face, the company insists they will continue collecting and selling this personal information even after you cancel your service, unless you specifically shut down the data connection to the vehicle after canceling.
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09-22-2011, 10:48 PM
#2
1984 is not appealing. No cars will be tracked if we do not consent. Consent is required for anything like this to ever be done. Quite simple, really.
How to disconnect OnStar:
Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums - Camaro5.com - View Single Post - How to disconnect OnStar?
or:
How to Take OnStar Out of a Car | eHow.com
How to disconnect OnStar:
Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums - Camaro5.com - View Single Post - How to disconnect OnStar?
or:
How to Take OnStar Out of a Car | eHow.com
09-23-2011, 12:51 AM
#4
Do you wear a tin foil hat?
09-23-2011, 08:18 AM
#5
lol.. no. But I have used several GPS as well as the one on my Iphone and they have apps where people can report traffic conditions and other ****.. I just figured thats what it was... but if a satellite can tell a little box where you are, why cant other people see it?.... I know for a fact it can be done because I used technology in the Army that does just that.. it was called FBCB2. That was a couple of years ago too so Im sure they have something better. we could watch and track all our buddies and know where they were as well as targets we were to engage....
09-23-2011, 09:47 AM
#6
Hmm, slightly off topic, but Stingray II?:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...723197574.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...723197574.html
lol.. no. But I have used several GPS as well as the one on my Iphone and they have apps where people can report traffic conditions and other ****.. I just figured thats what it was... but if a satellite can tell a little box where you are, why cant other people see it?.... I know for a fact it can be done because I used technology in the Army that does just that.. it was called FBCB2. That was a couple of years ago too so Im sure they have something better. we could watch and track all our buddies and know where they were as well as targets we were to engage....
09-23-2011, 09:53 AM
#7
the new **** is called JV-5.. it was in testing phase when I was on my way out.. I got to see it but never use it.. its is a new Blue Force Tracker (BFT) but I have next to no information on it.. there is some out there but the specifics of course, are kept secret... I do know it was a joint effort between branches so we could see what the other was doing.. FBCB2 didnt have that great of a capability and we were often shooting at members of our own team... that happened a lot believe it or not....
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09-23-2011, 09:56 AM
#8
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Unplugging it is the right move. It's your civic duty to prevent big brother from prying in to your life any more than necessary. Also its a double slap in the face....you pay for it, and they profit from your info! At the very least they ought to pay you to turn it on.
09-23-2011, 07:50 PM
#10
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 + GPS...
Digital Due Process :: Who We Are
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 + GPS...
Digital Due Process :: Who We Are
Last edited by libertyforall1776; 09-24-2011 at 01:03 PM.
09-23-2011, 08:18 PM
#11
lol.. no. But I have used several GPS as well as the one on my Iphone and they have apps where people can report traffic conditions and other ****.. I just figured thats what it was... but if a satellite can tell a little box where you are, why cant other people see it?.... I know for a fact it can be done because I used technology in the Army that does just that.. it was called FBCB2. That was a couple of years ago too so Im sure they have something better. we could watch and track all our buddies and know where they were as well as targets we were to engage....
09-23-2011, 09:22 PM
#13
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I know for a fact it can be done because I used technology in the Army that does just that.. it was called FBCB2. That was a couple of years ago too so Im sure they have something better. we could watch and track all our buddies and know where they were as well as targets we were to engage....
09-23-2011, 10:02 PM
#14
is commo still 31U?.. they were changing a bunch of **** when I was on my way out.. I was in 4ID, we were the first to field test a lot of ****.. all the retro **** for the M109A3 Paladin AFCS systems and ****... That was all us. We were testing something different but I guess it isnt out yet... That FBCB2 still run on Windows98.. lol it did when we were using it.. our guns rolled on win2000 and NT.. thats how old that **** was.. I got out in 2007...
09-23-2011, 10:16 PM
#15
They can after December.
The info is for sale. Your employer could even tell were your car was when you called in sick. Your insurance co can tell if you speed. Cops can tell if you speed.
It is supposed to me anyomous, but when your car is parked at your house and they know that how is that possible? Onstar leaves this kinda open ended.
I have been an Onstar fan for a long time because they didn't sell the info, but this is too much. My Onstar will be disconnected before december.
If onstar wants to sell my info then they need to pay me, not me pay them to sell it.
The info is for sale. Your employer could even tell were your car was when you called in sick. Your insurance co can tell if you speed. Cops can tell if you speed.
It is supposed to me anyomous, but when your car is parked at your house and they know that how is that possible? Onstar leaves this kinda open ended.
I have been an Onstar fan for a long time because they didn't sell the info, but this is too much. My Onstar will be disconnected before december.
If onstar wants to sell my info then they need to pay me, not me pay them to sell it.
09-24-2011, 12:46 AM
#16
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You have to search on YouTube but there's a video of onstar helping the police. Think it was a promotional video for law enforcement (to coax them to pay into it). It was a vehicle speeding down the highway. The officer scanned the car and onstar locked all the doors, rolled down the Windows, and wirelessly turned off the fuel pump and killed the accelerator.
This was like 5-6 years ago and that was only for a traffic stop. Other capabilities advertised were automatic speed limiters when you enter certain roads. So like when you go on the highway, you will go only 55 and only be able to accelerate at a predetermined "safe" rate.
This means also that new laws would follow that would penalize people for an inactive monitoring device. Same as an OBD-2 violation automatically fails inspection.
Welcome to the world of liberals.
This was like 5-6 years ago and that was only for a traffic stop. Other capabilities advertised were automatic speed limiters when you enter certain roads. So like when you go on the highway, you will go only 55 and only be able to accelerate at a predetermined "safe" rate.
This means also that new laws would follow that would penalize people for an inactive monitoring device. Same as an OBD-2 violation automatically fails inspection.
Welcome to the world of liberals.
09-24-2011, 12:58 AM
#17
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Here's the video: if it doesn't work then youtube search "gm onstar high speed pursuit preventitive technology"
http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_u...?v=ZIIM8rw0au8
http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_u...?v=ZIIM8rw0au8
09-24-2011, 01:24 AM
#18
GM's OnStar Unit Alters Privacy Policy, Drawing Senators' Wrath
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
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
