Disabling On Star

[fbodfather]

I did not read thru the entire thread.

OnStar cannot detect raised voices in the car or truck......if the person was cut off - it may be that his/her vehicle decelerated at an advanced rate which caused OnStar to be notified that the vehicle MAY have been in an accident. OnStar walks a fine line here - if they do NOT cut in and ask if everything is fine - they are accused of not doing their job - if they DO cut in, they are accused of being 'big brother' That's pretty much a 'no-win' situation depending on which side you are on............................

As to 'tracking' vehicles even when the vehicle is not subscribed - there's a bit of a story as to WHY --

Remember Hurricane Katrina?

OnStar was able to 'detect' groups of cars sitting still on highways by seeing OnStar equipped cars sitting still- this allowed them to steer people around traffic blocks - which means they may have actually saved lives......but that's not what the media reported........no -- Charles Schumer and some other elected officials would rather get in front of the cameras and show their 'bluster' --

(sorry - it's late and I'm tired - but I really don't like that man........)

Moreover - they provided free emergency service to thousands of OnStar customers whether they were subscribed or not. This happens when there are horrible tornados and hurricanes and earthquakes........but again, no one wants to report the good things - only the bad..........

The reality: OnStar is not watching every move you make.

They are not 'listening in' on you.

They are there to serve you -

......and to save lives and make lives a bit easier.

Are they perfect?

Do you know of anything that is actually perfect?

I don't.


It is your perogative to 'disable' OnStar - but the question is "why"? - Knowing what I do - I can honestly say: there simply isn't a good reason to do so. I've seen too many lives saved BECAUSE OF ONSTAR.

If you still feel that you need to: that's your choice. I just hope you never find yourself in a position where OnStar could have saved your life (or those of your loved ones...)

[90503]

Originally Posted by fbodfather

If you still feel that you need to: that's your choice. I just hope you never find yourself in a position where OnStar could have saved your life (or those of your loved ones...)

Nice sales pitch but, but I don't need a subscription to On-Star to prove how much I love my family...thank you very much.

[SB09]

Originally Posted by 90503

Nice sales pitch but, but I don't need a subscription to On-Star to prove how much I love my family...thank you very much.

I don't think he was selling onstar in any way. Just giving you real world experiences on what onstar has done in emergency situations. Notice he talked about even the non-subscribers were re-routed to avoid stopped traffic. Those people weren't paying customers, yet they were still helped out.

I don't seriously think the intention of GM or Onstar is to track what you're doing or what you're saying in your car. It's simply a safety feature, that works really well by all accounts. I have been lost in an area that I have never been in without cell reception. Guess who got me to where I was going safely and quickly, Onstar. I was even able to call the person I was meeting and tell them I would be a little late. I guess everyone's opinion is different though.

Besides, if you're not committing crimes. What's the worry? Just about the only thing Onstar could do is help when you need it most.

[90503]

Originally Posted by SB09

I don't think he was selling onstar in any way. Just giving you real world experiences on what onstar has done in emergency situations. Notice he talked about even the non-subscribers were re-routed to avoid stopped traffic. Those people weren't paying customers, yet they were still helped out.

I don't seriously think the intention of GM or Onstar is to track what you're doing or what you're saying in your car. It's simply a safety feature, that works really well by all accounts. I have been lost in an area that I have never been in without cell reception. Guess who got me to where I was going safely and quickly, Onstar. I was even able to call the person I was meeting and tell them I would be a little late. I guess everyone's opinion is different though.

Besides, if you're not committing crimes. What's the worry? Just about the only thing Onstar could do is help when you need it most.

No worries....I think its unfair, however, to assume everyone who doesn't want On-Star is paranoid, unsafe, uninformed and all the rest of that crap, when
they simply choose not to pay for the service. It's unfortunate it wasn't offered as an expensive option you could exclude, instead of having no choice about it and being questioned for not just going along with the crowd.

[cbass]

Besides, if you're not committing crimes. What's the worry? Just about the only thing Onstar could do is help when you need it most.

Why is everyone that doesn't want Onstar labeled either a criminal or nutcase?

[cbass]

No he didn't. This is not true. Completely. The person who told you this story made it up, and in fact EVERY single story you ever hear of OnStar "just calling you" because of speeding or whatever is a lie. There have been multiple posts on this here and in other forums. Not ONE person could give a firsthand account of it happening. Every one said "my friend told me, my cousin told me", etc.

IDK man....it's happened to people on the track including Hennessey. This doesn't seem like a lie to me. Is video proof good enough for you?

[THUMPER20X]

Originally Posted by cbass

Why is everyone that doesn't want Onstar labeled either a criminal or nutcase?

It's just easier to rationalize that way. If your not accepting whats put in front of you you're a nut. It's the age of adversity you're not allowed to question things unless you have some sort of disorder. Corporate whipped society rules. I get it all the time lol. I'd totally disable it if I knew I was keeping my car for sure.

[90503]

Originally Posted by cbass

Why is everyone that doesn't want Onstar labeled either a criminal or nutcase?

In a way the arguments made for ON-Star as a "must-have" item is in a subtle sense fueled by paranoia...Oh, my God! What do I do if there's a flood? What do I do if I'm lost? What do I do if I crash? What about my loved one's? What if I could have done more to save the one's I love?
Guilt and fear are what boosts sales, and drives dependence and a sense of security toward marketed gadgets.
Its a brilliant sales tactic, actually..."If you don't want and like what we give you, you must be some sort of odd-ball"...gimme a break.

[cbass]

And damn what's with the responses? This wasn't the SHOULD I disable OnStar thread for people to jump in with their opinion. It was the HOW DO I disable Onstar thread. The guy has made up his mind and just wants to know.

Do you also jump on people who want to change the stock exhaust? Do you lecture them how it violates the law because it's too loud and violates emissions? Maybe post some "noise" terrorist pictures?

What about those that tune their car?

How about all of us buying this fuel-inefficient v8 with horsepower we don't need and contributing to global warming? What do you need all this horsepower for? Are you some kind of criminal that wants to speed? That's the only reason you would want this much horsepower with legal speed limits.

[Partick]

Originally Posted by cbass

And damn what's with the responses? This wasn't the SHOULD I disable OnStar thread for people to jump in with their opinion. It was the HOW DO I disable Onstar thread. The guy has made up his mind and just wants to know.

Do you also jump on people who want to change the stock exhaust? Do you lecture them how it violates the law because it's too loud and violates emissions? Maybe post some "noise" terrorist pictures?

What about those that tune their car?

How about all of us buying this fuel-inefficient v8 with horsepower we don't need and contributing to global warming? What do you need all this horsepower for? Are you some kind of criminal that wants to speed? That's the only reason you would want this much horsepower with legal speed limits.

Because he wants to disable it out of paranoia. Get a grip folks Onstar could care less about you!

[Rogue Leader]

Originally Posted by cbass

IDK man....it's happened to people on the track including Hennessey. This doesn't seem like a lie to me. Is video proof good enough for you?

You tactfully cut out the second part of my post.

Now you may say "but theres a video of this". There is! Its a Hennessey supercharged Cadillac CTSV thats around 800 HP that accelerates so hard that the car's systems believed it was being rearended. This was confirmed.

This is the only confirmable case of this happening. And why? As I said the car is so powerful it thought it got rearended when it launched. How could they fix this? I guess maybe some recalibrated sensors, but honestly those would probably miss certain accidents, then people would be pissed if it DIDN'T activate. IMO better to have the awkward phonecall with the occasional modded drag racer, than the more likely larger crowd of people who got rearended and are now calling to complain because OnStar didn't call them.

So yes, its a lie, and anyone who says Onstar calls them when they are yelling, speeding, or doing anything else other than pressing the blue button or crashing, was either misinformed or is full of crap.

Originally Posted by 90503

No worries....I think its unfair, however, to assume everyone who doesn't want On-Star is paranoid, unsafe, uninformed and all the rest of that crap, when
they simply choose not to pay for the service. It's unfortunate it wasn't offered as an expensive option you could exclude, instead of having no choice about it and being questioned for not just going along with the crowd.

I don't think everyone here is assuming that, but when people ask why you'd want to "cut it out" of your car, thats the common response. One of paranoia.

If you don't want OnStar, don't pay for it, all it does is handle your bluetooth phonecalls then and sit and rot in the car. Nobody follows you or tracks you or even cares about you, no offense. If you feel the overwhelming need to yank out this box and disable it (which BTW if you ever decide to sell your car definitely hurts the resale value), then you are paranoid.

PS before anyone jumps on my case, my first response here was to explain exactly to the guy how to remove it and what he can do to get bluetooth back. That was his question and I answered it.

[ROBOSSRS]

Most people could possibly consider me crazy, I don't own a regular old cell phone. I have a company provided one, but when I am not working it stays at home on da charger. So I pay for Onstar on my 04 Olds , 05 Equinox and my 2011 Camaro.
On the other hand I also think it should be an option.

[cbass]

This is the only confirmable case of this happening. And why?

Because most people don't happen to have a camera running when it happens. And them "telling" you about it is not evidence enough and they are liars. Journalists have reported Onstar calling them while track testing cars as well. These were stock, unmodded cars.

Because he wants to disable it out of paranoia. Get a grip folks Onstar could care less about you!

If you don't want OnStar, don't pay for it, all it does is handle your bluetooth phonecalls then and sit and rot in the car. Nobody follows you or tracks you or even cares about you, no offense.

The only thing I agree with you there is that Onstar and other companies could care less about you. They have one goal in mind and that is to make a profit. They aren't cold hearted. They care about delivering you as good as product they can to keep you as a customer, etc. However, the bottom line is they have their interests in mind first and yours second. That doesn't mean they don't care about your data or habits though.

As for if you don't want it, then don't pay for it. Well...I wish that were true. Not that long ago this information was released. Your data would be collected even if you did not have an active subscription. Hell, even fbodfather has said that the data from cars without subscritpions has been used during natural disasters. Not having the ability to do it and saying it's not our policy to do so is very different.

OnStar, the General Motors communications service that lets you call for help if you have car trouble, could soon be collecting data from any vehicle with OnStar equipment, even if the owner isn’t an OnStar subscriber, according to a new privacy statement from the company.

And the company can share that information with law enforcement, credit card processors and others, the policy says.

LInk:
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/09/...ata-from-cars/

Since this came out OnStar has decided not to do this because of customer back lash, but if you look at history it will only be a matter of time again until they try to push for it.

This would give some credit to the claim that they have the processing and storage power to collect this data from non-subscribers.

And let's go back to companies are in business to make money and their interests come first. Why do you think CC companies and insurance companies would want to buy this data from OnStar? If you think it's to lower your rates or offer you discounts, then you are delusional. Their goal is record profits and to get as much of your money as they can.

So no it's not paranoid to want to disable something that can gather data about you and your driving habits even without you having a subscription. OnStar exists to make money and if they can do it from your data if it's in their interest and not yours than they will. As long as they can get away with it and don't lose customers.

[Rogue Leader]

Originally Posted by cbass

Because most people don't happen to have a camera running when it happens. And them "telling" you about it is not evidence enough and they are liars. Journalists have reported Onstar calling them while track testing cars as well. These were stock, unmodded cars.

And this was because crash sensors were activated due to the way they were maneuvering. Or if they lost control of the car. I've seen the articles. As I said, if it didn't activate, then the paying customers would complain. Either way its not because they "detected" that you were going fast, or screaming, or anything else. Its a natural and easily explainable function of the system.

I drive the balls off my car, and it hasn't activated once.

And I hate repeating myself but its been posted on this and other forums, not ONE person could come back with a first person story (as in it happened specifically to them) of this happening. Not one. Every story was "my friend" "my cousin" "this guy I know".

The only thing I agree with you there is that Onstar and other companies could care less about you. They have one goal in mind and that is to make a profit. They aren't cold hearted. They care about delivering you as good as product they can to keep you as a customer, etc. However, the bottom line is they have their interests in mind first and yours second. That doesn't mean they don't care about your data or habits though.

As for if you don't want it, then don't pay for it. Well...I wish that were true. Not that long ago this information was released. Your data would be collected even if you did not have an active subscription. Hell, even fbodfather has said that the data from cars without subscritpions has been used during natural disasters. Not having the ability to do it and saying it's not our policy to do so is very different.



Since this came out OnStar has decided not to do this because of customer back lash, but if you look at history it will only be a matter of time again until they try to push for it.

This would give some credit to the claim that they have the processing and storage power to collect this data from non-subscribers.

And let's go back to companies are in business to make money and their interests come first. Why do you think CC companies and insurance companies would want to buy this data from OnStar? If you think it's to lower your rates or offer you discounts, then you are delusional. Their goal is record profits and to get as much of your money as they can.

So no it's not paranoid to want to disable something that can gather data about you and your driving habits even without you having a subscription. OnStar exists to make money and if they can do it from your data if it's in their interest and not yours than they will. As long as they can get away with it and don't lose customers.

See you started to agree with me but fell into the same exact pattern as the rest. OnStar was collecting usage statistics, not specific data on people. They were not storing it either. Could they? I'm sure they could 100%, physically, no problem.

The point is they aren't going to. There was already a ton of backlash over them using anonymous usage statistics of non subscribers for third party marketing purposes, so what in the world makes you think insurance or credit card companies will get access to that data? BTW they didn't release any data, they told customers and non customers they were planning on it and it was squashed almost immediately. Read the actual policy closely instead of the blogs and articles and you will see the fear mongering that went on with it.

And I was an insurance agent for many years, trust me they would kill for that data. But they aren't getting it.

The attitude is they are always out to get you, and they are out to get you in some cases, for every penny you're willing to pay. But that doesn't mean that they are selling or using data illegally, some of the laws in this country do work, and not every company is going to do underhanded things to their own potential customers to make a buck. Because in the end if they did how many people do you think would keep their service? I know I for one would rip that shit out in a heartbeat and I am a paying subscriber.

Hell I'd start a business that specialized in OnStar removal, I'd probably make a fortune!

They want to make money, end of story. If they start doing stuff that people believe will get them in trouble, or invade their privacy, they will lose money, immediately.