Maybe I need to take this Big Brother stuff more seriously...

[Tarheel]

I'd heard about this announcement from On-Star and knowing that both vehicles that I drive have the system it has given me a little cause for concern (and reason to ride my motorcycle more)...not that I'd speed or anything.  Anyway, it looks like On-Star is setting up their customers (and those folk who have the system but do not subscribe to it) with a change in their privacy policy which will allow On-Star to distribute data about their customer's driving experience to third parties "for any purpose".

GM's OnStar Will Now Track Even Non-Customers
By Matt Liebowitz
{MSNBC.COM}
{21 SEP 2011}
 
General Motors' OnStar onboard navigation and emergency system is set to collect drivers' GPS locations and other personal data, even for customers who discontinue the monthly service, a policy change that some see as a gross and unnecessary invasion of privacy.

OnStar, a subsidiary of GM, began emailing customers Monday (Sept. 19) about the updated privacy policy, which gives it the right to collect and share customers' information, including name, address, telephone and email address, billing information (including credit card number), vehicle identification number and make, model and year along with diagnostic information such as tire pressure and odometer readings.
 
These details, along with the car's GPS coordinates, are collected in the event of an emergency and to improve vehicle maintenance. But OnStar's revised policy grants the company the right to share customers' information with "law enforcement or other public safety officials, credit card processors and/or third parties we contract with who conduct joint marketing initiatives with OnStar," including roadside assistance companies, satellite radio providers and data management companies.
 
The company will continue to collect and share this data on OnStar-equipped vehicles even if the car's owner doesn't sign up for, or cancels, the monthly service. Customers must specifically ask to opt out of the tracking service, Wired reported. The policy is set to go into effect in December.
 
OnStar informed customers in the notice that it anonymizes drivers' location data as well, and reserves the right to sell that data to third parties "for any purpose."

...
As Wired wrote, "Collecting location and speed data via GPS might also create a treasure trove of data that could be used in criminal and civil cases. One could also imagine an eager police chief acquiring the data to issue speeding tickets en masse."
 
All this stored data would also be valuable to insurance companies seeking to challenge customers' claims. For example, they could see whether a car was speeding, or look for signs of erratic driving.
...

Source:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44614738#

[AUJarhead]

Can you take a fuse out to disable it?

I'm curious too, I've got Onstar as well, and would like to disable it.

Edit to add:

http://www.101corvetteprojects.com/2011/08/21/how-to-disable-onstar-on-a-corvette-c6/

Not sure how legit this is though.

[Tarheel]

Can you take a fuse out to disable it?

I'm curious too, I've got Onstar as well, and would like to disable it.

Edit to add:

http://www.101corvetteprojects.com/2011/08/21/how-to-disable-onstar-on-a-corvette-c6/

Not sure how legit this is though.

I'll have to do some research on it; it's not bad enough that they're uploading our data for their own purposes and then selling it without giving us a cut of the profits but the thought of using that data against us is beyond the pale.

[GarMan]

Seems like a solution here...

http://www.youtube.com/v/ZMlhs_-PaHk

[DnATL]

Can you take a fuse out to disable it?

I'm curious too, I've got Onstar as well, and would like to disable it.

Edit to add:

http://www.101corvetteprojects.com/2011/08/21/how-to-disable-onstar-on-a-corvette-c6/

Not sure how legit this is though.

Is that your super-keen Corvette?  Have you met dallas?

[AUJarhead]

Is that your super-keen Corvette?  Have you met dallas?

I need to put some pictures up.

[GH2001]

Don't buy a government car. (GM)

Seems like a convenient relationship doesn't it? Would make tracking you real easy for them.

[Tarheel]

Don't buy a government car. (GM)

Seems like a convenient relationship doesn't it? Would make tracking you real easy for them.

My vehicles are pre-Government Motors era but it appears that they were pre-planning on the tracking aspect.

I expect with the new performance mandates that The Pharaoh is working on that the time when all vehicles are equipped with Big Brother software is not far away.

[GarMan]

My vehicles are pre-Government Motors era but it appears that they were pre-planning on the tracking aspect.

I expect with the new performance mandates that The Pharaoh is working on that the time when all vehicles are equipped with Big Brother software is not far away.

You've just been reported to AttackWatch.com. 

[Tarheel]

You've just been reported to AttackWatch.com.

Thank you for saving me from myself.

[Tarheel]

Well, as a follow-up apparently GM and OnStar have reversed their policy change and will no longer track non-subscribers.  I've still un-plugged mine...I don't trust them:

OnStar Reverses Decision to Change Terms and Conditions
Will continue to protect customer and vehicle data privacy
2011-09-27

DETROIT – OnStar announced today it is reversing its proposed Terms and Conditions policy changes and will not keep a data connection to customers’ vehicles after the OnStar service is canceled.
 
OnStar recently sent e-mails to customers telling them that effective Dec. 1, their service would change so that data from a customer vehicle would continue to be transmitted to OnStar after service was canceled – unless the customer asked for it to be shut off.
 
“We realize that our proposed amendments did not satisfy our subscribers,” OnStar President Linda Marshall said. “This is why we are leaving the decision in our customers’ hands. We listened, we responded and we hope to maintain the trust of our more than 6 million customers.”
...

Source:
http://media.gm.com/content/media/us/en/gm/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2011/Sep/0927_onstar

[GarMan]

Well, as a follow-up apparently GM and OnStar have reversed their policy change and will no longer track non-subscribers.  I've still un-plugged mine...I don't trust them:

Source:
http://media.gm.com/content/media/us/en/gm/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2011/Sep/0927_onstar

The Ruler will not be pleased.  Expect government sanctions against one or both of these companies in the near future. 

[GH2001]

Well, as a follow-up apparently GM and OnStar have reversed their policy change and will no longer track non-subscribers.  I've still un-plugged mine...I don't trust them:

Source:
http://media.gm.com/content/media/us/en/gm/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2011/Sep/0927_onstar

Not to be all black helicopter/alex jones or anything, but would you know if they were or weren't? It's really taking their word for it at this point. You did the right thing by unplugging.

[AUJarhead]

Well, as a follow-up apparently GM and OnStar have reversed their policy change and will no longer track non-subscribers.  I've still un-plugged mine...I don't trust them:

Source:
http://media.gm.com/content/media/us/en/gm/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2011/Sep/0927_onstar

Anything bad happen once you did?  Nothing pop up on the dashboard when you started up?

[Tarheel]

Anything bad happen once you did?  Nothing pop up on the dashboard when you started up?

I did see a black helicopter hovering high over my garage within 10 minutes of unplugging...and a black GMC Yukon with tinted windows drove real slowly by the house.  Other than that though nothing strange happened.

[Tarheel]

The Ruler will not be pleased.  Expect government sanctions against one or both of these companies in the near future.

You have been reported to ATTACKWATCH.COM...again.

[GarMan]

Anything bad happen once you did?  Nothing pop up on the dashboard when you started up?

It triggers the self-destruct mechanism after 30 days of being unplugged.  There's a thermite charge under the drivers seat, but I wouldn't worry about it. 

Watch that annoying video, the fourth post in this thread.  It's all good.  No alerts...  No computer codes...  No nothing... 

[Tarheel]

Not to be all black helicopter/alex jones or anything, but would you know if they were or weren't? It's really taking their word for it at this point. You did the right thing by unplugging.

Alex Jones might be a wingnut, especially about 9/11 conspiracies, but every once in a while he's onto something.

For example; for months NO MSM or Alternative Media source (including AM) was talking about the US Justice Dept.'s so-called "Fast and Furious" gun program with the Mexican criminal cartels except Alex Jones.  I listen to his show almost daily...like anything these days you have to take it con grano salis...but he was onto something with that scandal and it is proving to be a big problem with Eric Holder and The Pharaoh.