Mandatory "Event Data Recorders" will even know you're speeding in reverse.

[Rob MacLennan]

That's the thing.. If you bought it outright, it would still cost you a couple of c-notes. You can buy some lower-end phones for a lot less and they come without a GPS chip, Even smartphones can be flashed with firmware that will give the user more control over the GPS chipset (as in the certainty of it being off unless asked for by the customer).

You mean like my little Motorola throw-away, that I top up at Best Buy when I go to The States? Yeah, I get that. Pushing new firmware is beyond the skill level of most users and most people don't realize what they have in their less expensive, 'free with contract' phones. If they did, then these data loggers wouldn't even be on the RADAR.

[viper84737]

You have to be a serious dumbass to not see the future progression of such technology, and that, I believe, is what the OP was talking about. Yeah ok FOR NOW it's harmless, but how easy will it be for this to transition into the next level of surveillance. Why? Because people dismiss the current level as being harmless. All it takes is one little step forward from the previous, with nobody looking ahead two, and you've got yourself trouble. It's happening non-stop around us, and complacent citizens are wholly oblivious to it. At what point does it become a problem to you? The point of no return? I thought so.

You should thank the OP for bringing it to your attention.

[Brian P]

OnStar already exists and is MUCH more intrusive and it DOES transmit data back to home base.

Solution: don't buy a GM vehicle - or if you do, insist on the OnStar being disabled (and try to get out of paying for it).

[mxs]

Do they actually give you a hassle when you request it to have it disabled with a proof?

[FiReSTaRT]

Do they actually give you a hassle when you request it to have it disabled with a proof?

Your best bet is to DIY based on published information (assuming it's correct)

[Flywheel]

From what I've read, GM dealers are reluctant to disable or tamper with the OnStar unit. Most customers probably don't even consider the implications. The real problem arrives when they start integrating it into the ECU or some other subsystem, then any easy DIY method vanishes.

[FiReSTaRT]

From what I've read, GM dealers are reluctant to disable or tamper with the OnStar unit. Most customers probably don't even consider the implications. The real problem arrives when they start integrating it into the ECU or some other subsystem, then any easy DIY method vanishes.

If it isn't there already. I see the ECU aftermarket growing in near future at least until they become illegal because some drug dealer/child molester/hacker/media boogeyman used an aftermarket ECU to avoid government surveillance.