Many of us have seen the advertisements on television. A motorist driving a General Motors vehicle is involved in an accident and the OnStar system automatically notifies OnStar operators who are able to call emergency services and provide them with the information they need to come to the rescue.
The system also boasts other capabilities like being able to track a stolen vehicle and shut off its motor when it is located by police. It can also unlock the doors for the forgetful driver who happens to lock their keys in the vehicle.
There are probably other OnStar features that I’m forgetting about at the moment, in fact it’s been a while since I have seen an OnStar ad on TV, so perhaps they have added even more nifty features for owners of OnStar-equipped vehicles to enjoy.
One “feature” that might make a lot of OnStar customers less satisfied is one that was revealed when the contents of an up-coming change in the “terms and conditions” were revealed. You know, all that “fine print” that details the pesky legal stuff most people don’t care to read and big corporations so often reserve the right to change at their discretion.
Scheduled for implementation in December, this change is reportedly one that will allow OnStar to collect data from OnStar-equipped vehicles whenever they feel like it. OnStar, you see, is really just a souped-up cell phone that’s built into the vehicle. In addition to the ability to converse with a friendly OnStar operator, the OnStar system also knows where your vehicle is most of the time. I say most of the time since I presume the vehicle has to remain within range of a cell phone tower to operate as intended.
Anyone who watches crime dramas or even the nightly news probably knows that cell phones can be tracked due to the constant communication they engage in with nearby cell towers. Using either GPS that’s built into the phone or another method known as “triangulation,” the location of a cell phone can usually be pinned down pretty accurately by the cell phone companies when they want to. In many cases this is extremely helpful to cell phone users if they are lost in the woods or in some other type of distress.
Before I stray too far off-topic, let’s get back to OnStar. I suspect the OnStar systems installed in certain GM vehicles include GPS since the new terms and conditions that are set to be rolled out in December state that OnStar may collect data from users which includes location as well as vehicle speed, seat belt usage and other data. The “location” part of it would have to include a lot of cooperation from many cell phone companies if the OnStar system did not include its own built-in GPS.
Previously the OnStar terms and conditions stated that data like that would be collected only during a theft recovery or to send help in the event of an emergency.
OnStar also plans to reserve the right to sell the data to third parties but claims it will release the data only "on an anonymized basis." In other words, they’re claiming that your personal information, such as your name and address will not be included with the OnStar data they may decide to sell and therefore, the data will be impossible to associate with a particular vehicle owner.
It’s interesting to note that it will be possible for OnStar to collect this data even if a customer cancels their subscription. The only real way to stop the data collection would be to physically disable the OnStar system in some way. Something I would seriously consider doing if I was the owner of an OnStar-equipped vehicle.
There is probably a wealth of information on the internet regarding how to disable an OnStar system, so if you’re considering that, spend a little quality time with a search engine and you’ll probably have all the information you need in a jiffy.
Many of us love our high-tech toys and wonder how we would ever get along without them. As convenient as they are, there’s often a dark side to be considered. I realize some people just don’t care about that kind of thing and would prefer to just keep using their modern devices and not worry about it. It’s a personal choice.
As long as it’s an informed choice, I suppose there’s not much that I or anyone else can do about it. I guess OnStar customers may want to ask themselves if they trust a big corporation with data that includes where they drove their vehicle, how fast they were driving and whether or not they were wearing their seat belts.
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