I did all of that BECAUSE I HAD THE CHOICE TO DO SO.

If Onstar wants to collect data/track customers and sell the information to third parties then I will NEVER be a customer again!

A Cobain lyric comes to mind… ‘just because you’re paranoid don’t mean they’re not after you…’ …heh

the truth is history is a chronology of abuse of privlige… and the mass graves of those who thought we were better than that…

Many paranoid types have been posting about the 3-letter agencies that star in Hollywood productions (CIA, NSA, DOD . . . )

What’s the 3-letter agency you *really* want to be concerned about, though, should they decide they’d like to track you or eavesdrop on your conversations for a while?

The IRS

A lot of people are posting “how tos” on disabling or removing OnStar boxes. Just search “how to disconnect onstar gps unit” and a ton of pages will come up. There are ones specific for most models now too.

To all the people discussing real-time monitoring: yes, officials from various 3-letter agencies can indeed turn on your microphone, listen to what you’re saying as you say it, and watch where your vehicle is going on a map in real time.

Have a look here: http://www.tonyrogers.com/news/onstar.htm

It’s done through the cellular system, not via some “satellite signal”. All they have to do is cough up a warrant and OnStar will give them full, real-time access. Note that, thanks to the Patriot Act, some agencies can even write their own warrants without having to do that inconvenient “appear before a judge” thing.

Now get this:

The fact that you don’t have an OnStar subscription doesn’t stop them from continuing to scoope & store your data, as described in the blog post.

Here’s the kicker, though. Even if you ask them to “turn off” your OnStar unit data collection, all it means is that they deactivate the wireless connection and stop collecting data.

If someone comes calling with a warrant that convinces them, they can reactivate the wireless connection and give your 3-letter friends complete real time access to your location & conversations.

The only way to avoid being monitored via you OnStar unit is to physically power it off. Preferrably, you should remove it from the vehicle.

(Note, I avoided using the phrase “valid warrant”. Valid or not, it just has to convnce the OnStar person to do what they want them to do)

As for me, I will disconnect it. I have lived a long life. And much of it was without seat belts, helmets, cell phones and OnStar. While they are great inventions, they do not provide me with more liberty. And I am perfectly capable of calling for a Cop or a Fireman. I pay for my insurance and I own a gun or two or three. I think I feel secure enough without giving up anything else. History shows us that females tend to seek security at the cost of freedom. And males seek freedom and liberty at the cost of his life sometimes. It’s just nature. So I’ll teach my wife to shoot so she won’t trade our freedoms for security.

Jonathan Zdziarski’s blog post
Wired article
OnStar Privacy Statement