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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.
These changes start December 2011, and it can take up to a month for them to disconnect your service. So if they dont get rid of this new policy I am canceling. Spread the news until GM is forced to address this issue, unless Government Motors is being made to do this by the US government.
A lot of the data listed MAY be shared on an anonymized basis, at least according to what OnStar says in the agreement.
The specific data appears to be shared in case of an accident, incident or stolen car.
Anonymized is kinda vague. It seems like a sneaky way to say, "whoever we feel like." They could easily explain what anonymized is, instead they dont. A good user agreement clearly would state this.
Furthermore let's say they dont use their name. As he pointed out they could tell who you are by where you park. Most people park their car at their house. For instance let's say you speed a lot on a certain road, maybe everyday, now they could just park a cop car their at the average time you go through there.
Theres much technology these days that can track much personal information,from your cell phone and i-pad devices to many sites tracking your internet use, and for the past 10 years Event Data Recorders are installed in just about every car,
So if you are trying to get away from technology keeping tabs on you forget about it as if they dont get you one way they'll get you another way,its the price we pay for our tech addiction. Resistance is futile
Theres much technology these days that can track much personal information,from your cell phone and i-pad devices to many sites tracking your internet use, and for the past 10 years Event Data Recorders are installed in just about every car,
So if you are trying to get away from technology keeping tabs on you forget about it as if they dont get you one way they'll get you another way,its the price we pay for our tech addiction. Resistance is futile
Or we could just have the federal government pass a law giving us back our right of privacy. Unfortunately, "We the people," dont have a lobby.
Or we could just have the federal government pass a law giving us back our right of privacy. Unfortunately, "We the people," dont have a lobby.
I wouldnt hold my breath waiting for that to happen,too many gvmnt or private industry interests involved and an entrenched technology thats making it easy and profitable to spy on people.
Going offline with all things techno would be your only viable option, and even then listening devices can be as small as a pin head or conversation can be monitored from amazing distances....
Anonymized or not, I (still, I hope) have a right to go about my business without being spied on.
However, Onstar is a seller of services, that I have a right to buy or not buy, but if I buy, I buy on their terms. If I don't buy their service, they (probably) cannot spy on me.
How does Onstar perform their service to you, if they do not know where you are?
I am less worried about Onstar, than about auto manufactures (whether required by the government or not) installing black boxes in your car (with or without telling you).
The American people have become so addicted to toys and gimmicks, that it will be a piece of cake for Big Brother (whether in private or public sector) to persuade you to agree to have a microchip implanted into your brain. In order to protect you from terrorists, or make you G7 or G8 device-compliant, or make you eligible for things like bank accounts and social security, or get discounts at the supermarket.
At what point, as the juggernaut rolls toward a police state, will people just say No, and stop throwing themselves under the wheels?
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