carcrazysammy

I hate the idea of Onstar tracking my every move. They record and keep information on location, speed even if you don't pay for the service. How does one temporally disable onstar? Ideally when I sell the car it would be replaced. Is there any other black box data being collected in the car?

BJ67

Just pull the fuse and its dead.

mountainears

There's a few threads on this. One has gone so far to completely remove the hardware, depends on how paranoid you are. You can simply opt out of the service, that's one extreme, or remove all the hardware. Some varying degrees in between like pulling the fuse, disconnecting antennas, etc. Again, depends on your level of paranoia.

Bill Dearborn

Your fears are unfounded. They do not do that. They don't even do that when you do have a subscription. They proposed doing that a number of years ago but were met with so much criticism they dropped the proposal. I have the OnStar Safe and Sound plans active on all three of my vehicles and use the subscriptions to get a discount on my State Farm insurance. The agreement is OnStar sends State Farm my mileage information. This lets me qualify for a low mileage discount. Nobody ever knows unless I tell them the car regularly hits 150+ mph when it is on the track. I put over 1K track miles on the car this year and nobody but me knows where the miles were put on or how fast I was going.

Bill

c54u

Yes, your cell phone.

NASTYC7

What are you talking about levels.. There are levels??.. You watching me? I knew it!!! If it wasn't the OnStar giving you the info was it the GPS?? Or was it my Cell??? You Sneaky Bastards!!!

OP pull the damn fuse if it bothers you... You're being tracked one way or another by Big Brother if they wanted too.. This has stopped at least 3 of my intended "Dine and Dash" desires...

Kent1999

Foosh

Is it tin foil hat week already?

blackmagicZ

Just think, your TV is watching you as well as your computer. It's like having a two way mirror. Yikes.

2K14C7

There is also a event data recorder that in the event of a crash, records things like speed, braking, seatbelt use and other things.

RonC7

Yes, the car has data recorders. All cars do. From the manual:

Vehicle Data
Recording and
Privacy
The vehicle has a number of
computers that record information
about the vehicle’s performance and
how it is driven. For example, the
vehicle uses computer modules to
monitor and control engine and
transmission performance, to
monitor the conditions for airbag
deployment and deploy them in a
crash, and, if equipped, to provide
antilock braking to help the driver
control the vehicle. These modules
may store data to help the dealer
technician service the vehicle.
Some modules may also store data
about how the vehicle is operated,
such as rate of fuel consumption or
average speed. These modules may
retain personal preferences, such as
radio presets, seat positions, and
temperature settings.

Event Data Recorders
This vehicle is equipped with an
event data recorder (EDR). The
main purpose of an EDR is to
record, in certain crash or near
crash-like situations, such as an air
bag deployment or hitting a road
obstacle, data that will assist in
understanding how a vehicle’s
systems performed. The EDR is
designed to record data related to
vehicle dynamics and safety
systems for a short period of time,
typically 30 seconds or less. The
EDR in this vehicle is designed to
record such data as:
. How various systems in your
vehicle were operating;
. Whether or not the driver and
passenger safety belts were
buckled/fastened;
. How far (if at all) the driver was
depressing the accelerator and/
or brake pedal; and,
. How fast the vehicle was
traveling.

These data can help provide a
better understanding of the
circumstances in which crashes and
injuries occur. NOTE: EDR data are
recorded by your vehicle only if a
non-trivial crash situation occurs; no
data are recorded by the EDR under
normal driving conditions and no
personal data (e.g., name, gender,
age, and crash location) are
recorded. However, other parties,
such as law enforcement, could
combine the EDR data with the type
of personally identifying data
routinely acquired during a crash
investigation.
To read data recorded by an EDR,
special equipment is required, and
access to the vehicle or the EDR is
needed. In addition to the vehicle
manufacturer, other parties, such as
law enforcement, that have the
special equipment, can read the
information if they have access to
the vehicle or the EDR.
GM will not access this data or
share it with others except: with the
consent of the vehicle owner or,

if the vehicle is leased, with the
consent of the lessee; in response
to an official request by police or
similar government office; as part of
GM's defense of litigation through
the discovery process; or, as
required by law. Data that GM
collects or receives may also be
used for GM research needs or may
be made available to others for
research purposes, where a need is
shown and the data is not tied to a
specific vehicle or vehicle owner.

dvilin

Certainly is, hard to believe some of these people are serious but I guess they unfortunately are.

JerryU

I'm not paranoid but was surprised yesterday when in the process of remounting my throttle controller a connection plug came loose that I did not see. When I started the car the check engine light came on and little gas pedal response. Pulled back into the garage and fixed it.

Last night I get an email from Onstar telling me to quickly bring the car to a dealer, the sky could be falling! I did not sign up for OnStar and my "free trial" has been over! I sent an email back and said fixed it! My check engine light is no longer on!

Something to be Paranoid About:
If I was going to be concerned it would be my little device from Amazon and "Alexa" listening to everything that is said in the area. Sometimes, very late on night with only the TV on she says: "I did not understand what was said" or some such wording! I tell her to go back to sleep!

Example: The wife came in from the garden where she had been bending over for an hour with plants. Could see her back was hurting and I said, "perhaps we should get you a back brace?" As expected, she said I don't need one. The next day Amazon had a back brace add pop up when I was looking for a car part!

Know someone who is a programmer for Google and he won't let one in the house! Wife loves it, as she just says, "Alexa put eggs on my shopping list." At the market she looks at an AP on her phone and there are those eggs!

nyciti

I pulled the Cell card out of the car to truly kill OnStar. As some has said you could pull the fuse but that wasn't enough for me and in some other post it was said pulling the fuse messed with Bluetooth. I have not seen this to be true so far in vettes vs Camaros.

I posted a how-to pull the cell card, takes 10 mins if that. It's located in the passenger footwell. It's also a security issue for me, I don't want my car broadcasting a cell or wifi signal. Call me what you want.

cvwb

Just 'cause you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get ya.

C6_Racer_X

Just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean they aren't listening to you all the time.

I don't think OnStar just summarily records everything, but I do know that law enforcement agencies can ask OnStar to listen in, and that OnStar cooperates fully with law enforcement agencies. They don't ask for warrants or court orders, if the request comes from what appears to be a legitimate law enforcement agency, they cooperate, period.

If you're running for political office, and your opponent is currently a sheriff or police chief with political ambitions, don't ride in any GM vehicles and discuss campaign strategy. I have a good friend who learned that lesson the hard way.

gpotski

Link please...

Thanks

Kent1999

Sorry, but we'll need a credible source on that. OnStar would be in serious trouble for releasing personally identifiable information or utilizing the proceeds of a covert listening device to just anyone who LOOKS to be a cop or for anyone just sending in an informal req on easily-faked letterhead. Basically, you're saying that a wiretap order isn't needed. In today's litigious climate, that's a little hard to believe.

pickleseimer

I saw your link to that post, however it appears it has been removed. hmmmm....

Chevette!?!?

If you have an electronic water meter in your house the government knows when you flush the toilet at 3:00am and when you do a load of laundry. So yeah, It's possible to tell where you are at any given moment!