'Shameless'! OnStar tracks users' driving habits even after they quit service; it must stop: Schu

'Shameless'! OnStar tracks users' driving habits even after they quit service; it must stop: Schumer

www.nydailynews.com

Turn it off, OnStar! That's Sen. Chuck Schumer's message to the automotive GPS service, which announced it's automatically tracking where ex-customers go, how fast they drive and even if they and their passengers wear seat belts.

Schumer is calling on OnStar honcho Linda Marshall to end the new practice, which the company announced last week, of keeping watch on former customers unless they explicitly opt out.

(visit the link for the full news article)

This is something I always thought they were doing, but no confirmation. I thought that Big Brother could just track you, but they know how fast you are going and if your passengers are wearing seat belts. That's nuts.

Not only can the government know all about your driving habits, but what if they sell this info to insurance companies. You get your insurance raised because they think you drive too fast or don't wear your seat belt enough.... pretty sick.

www.nydailynews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Good old Chuck Schumer. Lets see if he can actually follow through with this one, as his track record kinda sucks with everything else. As example for the last several years he has insisted on investigating why gas prices are so high in NYS, which he has yet to give us an answer for. Honestly anytime this guy moves his lips he is either lying or he never intends to actually commit himself to the cause. Chuck Schumer sucks.

I have been preaching against OnStar for years. That is how they sell us on big brother. They get everyone use to the convenience and safety of automatic crash alert, when we are locked out of our car or our kids are locked in them, or simply for directions etc.

I will never buy a vehicle that is equipped with OnStar or anything like it.

These intrusions into private lives are going to continue. They already want to use your cell phones and even facial recognition to target advertisements to you. Minority Report was right on the money.

You should expect that any amazing tech item that comes out that people will clamor for, will require some sacrifice of privacy or worse, but we will continue to happily take it for the latest greatest thing. Our kids won't even know what they have lost.

I posted something similar about Progressive Insurance tracking their SNAPSHOT customers driving habits for supposed discounts on their car insurance.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Turns out it's all a gimmick to get your information that can and may be used against you later. Some people who've had the tracker on their cars did not get any discount, just had their information added to a database.
Seems like it's a slow intrusion from all directions.

Tear it out with your fingers and learn how automatic disabling, not how to disable onstar but how to disable the blue tooth in the car. Take out the sedentary microchip and you'll be good.

I have been a GM owner my whole driving life. After reading this I will not buy another GM product. Many of their cars come with a "free trial" of On Star. Just by buying a GM you are signing up for this type of invasion. To me this spells epic fail.

How does On Star know when a car is sold on the used market? Do they stop tracking the information when the new owner takes possesion? I wouldn't bet on it.

Onstar is just one more way for them to reach into your wallet and continue to nickel and dime you every month for the illusion of safety.

reply to post by finemanm


I get it. They start putting OnStar in every car and those that want to pay for it can. either way they track us.

So simple that it has to be true. This way, nobody can escape it, because eventually it will be " if you want a car, then we are going to track you. Don't want to be tracked , then don't buy a car"...

lame


Not the worst thing that is going on though,

What will really bake your noodle is not only do they know where you are, how fast, how many people in car but they actually can slow your car down, disable it, listen in over mic, lock you in. It can rat you out to the cops when you do speed. This is the future.

Good morning Dave
This is Capitalism.
Everything and everyone is a resource.
Let's make some profit

reply to post by DangerDeath


That reminds me of a manager I had in retail.

"Good morning gentleman. Our job is to put the customer in debt. If they can't afford it, sign them up for a credit card. Customer service is just the tool we use to make this happen. We're not in the friendship business.

Now go empty some wallets."

This obsession with using technology to track people is getting beyond a joke.
In Europe we have "TomTom"sat nav's in many cars,and it was recently found out that the company have been selling driver info to the cops,who then go on to set up speed cameras in all the places people are deemed to be speeding.

So apart from sat navs making the navigational part of your brain atrophy,they also sell on your driving details to the cops so they can bust you...
Isn't technology supposed to help us in our everyday lives-I used to think it was,but I am not so sure now.

www.telegraph.co.uk...

reply to post by Silcone Synapse


Read Neil Postman's Technopoly. It is a great thesis on how technology changes culture.

A review excerpt from Scott London

Postman has emerged in recent years as one of America's most eloquent and outspoken critics of technology and in this book he elaborates on themes that will be familiar to readers of his earlier books, most notably Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (1985). Here Postman contends that "the uncontrolled growth of technology destroys the vital sources of our humanity. It creates a culture without moral foundation," and reorders our fundamental assumptions about the world at large. New technologies alter our understanding of what is real, "which is another way of saying that embedded in every tool is an ideological bias, a predisposition to construct the world as one thing rather than another."

One of the most ominous consequences of Technopoly, according to Postman, is the explosion of context-free information. "The milieu in which Technopoly flourishes is one in which the tie between information and human purpose has been severed, i.e., information appears indiscriminately, directed at no one in particular, in enormous volume and at high speeds, and disconnected from theory, meaning, or purpose." The "information glut" leads to the breakdown of a coherent cultural narrative, he argues, for without a meaningful context, information is not only useless, but potentially dangerous. He cites the old saying that, to a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail, and therefore, "to a man with a computer, everything looks like data."

The book is a little dated. However, the basic premis is timeless and still rings true today. It is a great read for those that question technology or feel like the humanity is draining out of the world.

reply to post by finemanm
I had a Montana minivan about 6 years ago. In the middle of a snow storm, it died. Me and my 2 year old son were in the vehicle. I used OnStar and in 15 minutes, a cop arrived and took us to the police station. We were warm, safe and my son was not harmed at all.

That being said, I would support the "kill switch" on these things for regular driving.

I don't know if i would trust them after you op-out, we have no way to know if really disable it. The only time it should work is when people need help. OnStar is going to ruin its name if they go through with this privacy invasion.

They should give customers a choice.
1) No service = no tracking period
2) Paid service = no tracking unless customer requests it for personal use (no selling info to 3rd parties)
3) Free service = tracking enabled, sell info to cover the cost

The info collected could be used to raise both vehicle and health insurance. They can see if you drive too fast or like to eat fast food every night and if you really go to the Gym like you claim to get a health insurance discount.