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[ NNSquad ] OnStar Begins Spying On Customers' GPS Location For Profit


OnStar Begins Spying On Customers' GPS Location For Profit

http://j.mp/nuv56t  (Zdziarski)

   "So the GPS location of your vehicle and your vehicle's speed are going
    to be collected by OnStar and sold to third parties. What kind of
    companies are interested in this data? OnStar would have you believe
    that respectable agencies, like departments of transportation and
    various law enforcement agencies (for purposes of "public safety or
    traffic services" - A.K.A ticket writing). I can imagine this data
    COULD be used for good, to create traffic based analytics to improve
    future road construction or even emergency response. But given that
    those types of decisions are only made once a decade in most cities,
    OnStar isn't likely to benefit much financially from "respectable"
    companies."

 - - -

The key aspects of this that are most disturbing are the apparent lack
of any user choice in these regards (except by totally eliminating the
service *and the data connection*!) and the provision of data to law
enforcement.  OnStar is really becoming quite problematic in key respects,
and may now have crossed the infamous "creepy" line.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org
Founder:
 - Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org
 - Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org
 - PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein 
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com