[slick rick]

Originally Posted by Rogue Leader

The article is blocked here at work (I'd be interested to see what it says), but if it was about them giving away your info whether you're a subscriber or not, that is over they rescinded that.

#3. OnStar Is Narcing You Out

OnStar is that incredibly convenient product many drivers would literally be lost without. Its automatic crash-response system, stolen vehicle tracking and roadside assistance are just some of the features that make this system so popular. In fact, they field over 15,000 lifesaving calls per year. They're like guardian angels of the highway. So what could they possibly be doing that's so terrible?

How about the fact that it's legally spying on everything you do? And it's a damned tattletale.

What You Agreed To:

First of all, just for OnStar to do what it advertises, it has to include a machine inside your car that tracks your every move. It knows where you're going, how fast you got there and can, at an instant, connect you to someone who can relay all of this back to you. In the hands of a less trustworthy company, it could amount to installing a slightly more helpful version of Big Brother right in your car's rearview mirror.

And guess what? As it turns out, OnStar is that less trustworthy company! They recently updated their terms of use contract to include two new points. First off, a new agreement forces you to allow OnStar to sell your driving data to whomever they want. We're talking stuff like vehicle speed and location, current odometer reading, driver seat-belt use and air-bag deployment. If that doesn't sound too bad, wait until they sell it to your insurance company, Speedy.

There's also a fine chance that, much like the GPS company TomTom, they could receive a subpoena ordering them to release your data to the police. And since we're talking about technology that can basically record everything you do and say inside your vehicle, OnStar offers so much more information than your typical GPS. In other words, if you're fleeing from justice, don't do it in a newer vehicle.

And all of that terrible stuff is just covered in the first update to their terms of service. Things get even more police-state-like with the second update. See, even if you decide that having a set of eyes monitoring you from inside your vehicle and waiting to tell the feds every time you send a text message at a red light is more than you're willing to put up with, it might be too late to do anything about it. Because that second update basically states that, even if you cancel your OnStar service, they'll still probably go ahead and keep watching you.

A forensic scientist recently canceled the service and found it extremely difficult to sever the data link between his vehicle and the OnStar headquarters. And that guy is a scientist! Regular people would probably have better luck just driving their car straight off a cliff than trying to figure that shit out.

So before you click "I Agree," make sure you've got nothing to hide. Because you are being watched.