"ON-STAR" QUESTIONS and CONCERNS.....

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by dammitmitchell

onstar can also be activated to be utilized by the govment as a wiretap device.. trackin your movements etc to know if you are up to somethign illegal.. and the "new homeland security" can do that the moment you fart the wrong way near the wrong set of ears...

Can you provide a link/etc proving this?

[1974ChevyC10]

if i had a newer gm vehicle i would get it.reason i would is i have severe medical problems and am considered disabled by the government so god forbid something were to happen to me while driving or while out and about i would feel better knowing that backup safety blanket was there.im considering getting a new vehicle anyway as my current car is starting to show signs of some possible failures in the future most of which would cost me alot more than im willing to spend to fix.does anyone on here know if you can get some sort of new car discounts for having a disability say along the lines of needing a new car for medical reasons i.e getting to appt's and what not.ive never actually bought a car from a dealer before so i know very little about the kind of deals and what not that they offer you.

[cdowns]

Originally Posted by dammitmitchell

onstar can also be activated to be utilized by the govment as a wiretap device.. trackin your movements etc to know if you are up to somethign illegal.. and the "new homeland security" can do that the moment you fart the wrong way near the wrong set of ears...

they can track your every movement with a cell phone too!! DO YOU HAVE A CELL PHONE???

[jackblack]

Originally Posted by dammitmitchell

onstar can also be activated to be utilized by the govment as a wiretap device.. trackin your movements etc to know if you are up to somethign illegal.. and the "new homeland security" can do that the moment you fart the wrong way near the wrong set of ears...

just don't do any thing illegal and your good BUT i don't believe that crap anyway

[cableguy0]

UTT OHH websites log your ip address too and show which websites you visit. info is easy to come across. how many cameras do you think your face is on in one day and in how many different places. i bet the first time you were down in a ditch off the side of the highway knocked out and bleeding onstar would seem like a pretty good idea regardless of any other bs associated with it.

[Classic Heartbeat]

I do not know about their turn by turn navigation. My Silverado has navigation already, so I don't need it. I also don't know if the government can track you or not in it. I suppose it is possible, but if you are not on some terrorist list or something, why would they? Can you emagine how many people it would take to track everyone with on-star?
I like some of the other features of it also. I like the emails I get every month that tell me how much air pressure is in my tires, if they need air, oil life, fuel filter life, and etc. They will even run a diagnostic on the truck in the event there is a problem. We did that once with my wifes car, because the check engine light kept coming on. On-star told us to replace the gas cap, so we did, and the problem was solved. Who would have thought that?? Anyway I like it. WES

[N2TRUX]

What I find humorous about all this is those that feel that not subscribing will make a difference.

I won't go in to the debate about "Big Brother" watching you. If they want to track you, they can and will.

Lets just say that Onstar was providing info to the "man". Do you really think that by simply not subscribing to the service, it is magically turned off or blocked?

It's active even if you don't pay the fees. It's just not accessible to you the consumer.

If you have a need for it, pay the fees and enjoy the benefits. I have the service in my GM trucks for several years and have yet to have the FBI/CIA/Homeland security knock on my door or raise my insurance rates.

[Sub-versive]

[dammitmitchell]

wow.. raised hell with that one..
yes the cellphone part is also true.. but to avoid the lock and things getting political
fox news did a special on it a few months ago, and the cellphone microphone can in fact be turned on also so as long as the battery is in the device..


so anyways.. tech free world is over.. and this is why i like the classics..

[67ChevyRedneck]

Sooooooooo, I "googled it" and found this, it was on an obviously one sided big bro website, so I won't give the link or any of the other BS, but check this out:

GM cars equipped with OnStar are supposed to be the leading edge of safety and technology. OnStar has run a recent blitz of commercials citing helpless motorists calling in with every type of emergency, from a heart attack to locking the keys inside the car. In the advertising world, OnStar reacts quickly by sending help or even unlocking the car.

However, buried deep inside the OnStar system is a feature few suspected - the ability to eavesdrop on unsuspecting motorists.

The FBI found out about this passive listening feature and promptly served OnStar with a court order forcing the company to give it access. The court order the FBI gave OnStar was not something out of the Patriot Act involving international terrorism or national security but a simple criminal case.

According to court records, OnStar complied with the order but filed a protest lawsuit against the FBI.

Yet the FBI was able to enforce the original legal order and completed its surveillance because OnStar's lawsuit took nearly two years to pass through the court system.


The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled in OnStar's favor. The ruling was not based on invasion-of-privacy grounds or some other legitimate constitutional basis. The FBI lost because the OnStar passive listening feature disables the emergency signal, the very life-saving call for help that the advertisements tout as the main reason to purchase the system.
"The precedent has been set," stated former Georgia Rep. Bob Barr.

"The grounds on which the 9th Circuit reached the decision were not on the privacy aspects of the case. Under the CALEA [Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act] laws, the FBI blocking of the emergency signal constituted a breach of the consumers' contract."

The technical problem of blocking the emergency signal is clearly one that the FBI tech teams can overcome. Thus, under the current ruling, the FBI can resume using OnStar to monitor subject vehicles once it has solved the emergency issue.

There was way too many "big brother" postings to search through them all to verify this article. It could be BS, but if not, it does bother me a bit, but as other's have said, if anyone really really wanted to know, they could get my SS#, address, CC's, what websites I go to, tap my cell phone calls, monitor my PS3 games and netflix movies...

I recently got issued a new Discover Card and the letter attached to it basically said that their system was "compromised" so they were issuing new cards to people whose accounts may have been compromised and I needed to activate the new card ASAP and destroy the old one.

My defense against it all? Don't do stupid illegal ****

[Benelli]

Wait................If I'm at a stoplight, my friend playing with me love-taps my bumper...OnStar is going to ring up the local PD and claim there's been an accident?

What kinda games can we play out here now?

[Classic Heartbeat]

Wait................If I'm at a stoplight, my friend playing with me love-taps my bumper...OnStar is going to ring up the local PD and claim there's been an accident?

What kinda games can we play out here now?

No, If the tap on your bumper sets off your airbag, then they will call your vehicle to see if you are alright. If you do not respond or tell them that you are hurt, they will call the police and ambulance.

If you are playing around and bumping each others bumpers, you are taking a seriouse chance of a big air bag hitting you in the face. WES

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by Classic Heartbeat

If you are playing around and bumping each others bumpers, you are taking a seriouse chance of a big air bag hitting you in the face. WES

If anyone "taps" the bumper on my 20-40K new vehicle on purpose the airbag going off would be the least of their worries...

Come to think of it, that same rule would apply to everything I own.

[Classic Heartbeat]

If anyone "taps" the bumper on my 20-40K new vehicle on purpose the airbag going off would be the least of their worries...

Come to think of it, that same rule would apply to everything I own.

I agree totaly.... Nobody is going to play bumpercars with my Silverado.



WES