View Poll Results: Do you care if your car is Spying on you ?
Yes I #@%# care & I don't like it 4-Sure!!!!!!
6
85.71%
No, I don't care (They can't catch `me) lol
2
28.57%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 7. You may not vote on this poll
~0-0~ Your Car is Spying on You ? & so is_________?
#1
02-06-2013, 08:54 AM
~0-0~ Your Car is Spying on You ? & so is_________?
Your Car is Spying on You—But Whom is it Spying For?
As cars become more computerized and more connected, they are collecting a growing mass of data about us and our driving habits. But who can access that info?
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This airbag control module houses a component called the event data recorder, which monitors conditions surrounding airbag deployment and logs information about the last few seconds before a crash.
Gregg Delman
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As cars become more computerized and more connected, how much data is my vehicle collecting about my driving, and who has access to that information?
As cars become more computerized and more connected, how much data is my vehicle collecting about my driving, and who has access to that information?
A modern car knows where you are, is constantly tracking your driving habits, and may even be able to call for help if you crash. It's revolutionary, potentially lifesaving—and just a bit creepy. Most of a vehicle's computers are scattered around the car and carry out mundane tasks—operating the engine and transmission, windows, seats, and the radio—and these computers don't have data-storage capability (see How it Works: The Computer Inside Your Car, for a detailed tour). However, the airbag-deployment controller is a bit different. It contains a component called the event data recorder (EDR), which monitors the vehicle's network of sensors for signs of a crash and stores a few seconds of the data stream, dumping and refreshing the information constantly. The type of information collected in the EDR varies among manufacturers, but it generally includes throttle and brake-pedal position, steering angle, yaw rate (the vehicle's rotational velocity), speed, and impact-sensor data. This information is saved permanently following an airbag deployment and can be accessed through the OBD-II port by a technician using specialized equipment. EDRs have been used since the 1990s and have recently been standardized by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)—EDRs will be required equipment on all cars beginning in 2013, with the aim of making their data easier to obtain for crash investigations. Lawyers have used this data in court cases to demonstrate driver behavior during an accident. In a Pennsylvania lawsuit related to the Toyota Prius unintended-acceleration controversy of 2009 and 2010, a team of Toyota engineers and NHTSA officials accessed the EDR of the car in question, showing that the driver was depressing the gas pedal instead of the brake, as he'd claimed. Most navigation systems are separate from a car's computers and cannot track your location. Nav systems rely on the Global Positioning System, which is a one-way data stream to the car. Your car may know where it is, but nobody can track it via the GPS link, and no location data is stored in the EDR.
But everything changes when you add a cellular connection. Cars equipped with telematics systems such as OnStar or Hyundai Blue Link have two-way links to service providers that relay GPS data. The operators of these services do, indeed, have the ability to see where you are, how fast you're going, and what state your car is in mechanically. They can also track and remotely disable a stolen vehicle. The Nissan Leaf uses a similar two-way connection to regularly send data on usage and location to Nissan, which the company uses for future electric vehicle development. But these services aren't supposed to work without driver permission. The car can initiate a call in an emergency situation, such as when an airbag is deployed, but otherwise the driver must authorize an external connection to the vehicle.
Companies have been caught snooping, though. OnStar found itself in the midst of a public uproar last September when it quietly changed contract terminology and started tracking customers with the intent of selling information about their driving habits. OnStar reversed the policy under pressure from consumers and Congress. Recently, insurance companies Progressive and State Farm have begun testing tracking systems, which policyholders plug into their OBD-II port. The systems record data on driving habits, and in exchange customers can potentially get lower insurance premiums, but any data collected belongs to the insurer (including any crash data).
What can you do about it? If you're a new-car buyer, not much. But pay close attention to the language of the user agreement for any telematics service—if you don't like what you read, opt out of the service. With EDRs, it's enough simply to know your rights. The law is still playing catch-up to the technology, but at this point you do not have to surrender the EDR data to the police without probable cause, a warrant, or a subpoena.
Catch me `if you can 
Last edited by Space; 02-07-2013 at 08:00 AM.
#2
02-06-2013, 06:57 PM
I've always wondered if the authorities could (or would) use the OnStar system to spy on us. If the OnStar system in my Monte is still hooked up, even though I don't subscribe to it, theoretically couldn't authorities work with OnStar? Just start listening in on the conversations going on in my car? Record them and use them in court?
One reason to unplug, or remove the OnStar unit in your trunk if you don't subscribe?
One reason to unplug, or remove the OnStar unit in your trunk if you don't subscribe?
#3
02-06-2013, 07:14 PM
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: St.Louis , MO.
Posts: 7,523
I've always wondered if the authorities could (or would) use the OnStar system to spy on us. If the OnStar system in my Monte is still hooked up, even though I don't subscribe to it, theoretically couldn't authorities work with OnStar? Just start listening in on the conversations going on in my car? Record them and use them in court?
One reason to unplug, or remove the OnStar unit in your trunk if you don't subscribe?
One reason to unplug, or remove the OnStar unit in your trunk if you don't subscribe?
that said unable to locate wife's Impala SS should take to dealer to get fixed .. I opened garage an asked wife is that your Impala SS she said yes
so I put letter in trash..
#5
02-06-2013, 08:02 PM
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: St.Louis , MO.
Posts: 7,523
I took the Onstar box out of the trunk of my Monte SS..
#6
02-06-2013, 10:59 PM
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Mountains of Utah
Posts: 4,903
Guess you have to take the good with the bad if your into that submission. I too yanked my ON-Star unit out of my trunk. Don't want the authorities to be able to shut down my car in a high speed chase....... Ha Ha, wait I'm not kidding... or maybe I am... NOT??
#7
02-07-2013, 07:55 AM
Hi `Greg & Member's, thanks for your posts/thoughts on this subject..Please don't worry 
- Big Brother is Watching You: Pervasive Surveillance Under Obama ...
<cite style="color: rgb(0, 153, 51); font-style: normal;">www.globalresearch.ca/big-brother-is-watching-you...under.../14249</cite>
Big Brother is Watching You: Pervasive Surveillance Under Obama. Under the rubric of cybersecurity, the Obama administration is moving forward with a Bush ...
Now Big Brother is REALLY watching you
<cite style="color: rgb(0, 153, 51); font-style: normal;">www.wnd.com/2012/11/government-goal-omnipresent-big-brother/</cite>
Now Big Brother is REALLY watching you. Frightening system to predict what people will do. Published: 11/20/2012 at 8:36 PM. author-image by Steve Elwart ...
Last edited by Space; 02-07-2013 at 07:58 AM.
#8
02-07-2013, 08:06 AM
I am an avid SWL/Scanner listener and know for a fact law enforcement works hand in hand with On-Star to locate and (if needed) disable vehicles. They also use the GPS built into cell phones quite a bit to determine the location of certain individuals. Recording data prior to an accident isn't new. They've been doing that for years. I just think people are becoming more aware of it because insurance companies (Progressive comes to mind) are getting in on the act and having their customers plug a device into the OBDII port that transmits data to them about your driving habits.
#9
02-07-2013, 08:14 AM
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Mountains of Utah
Posts: 4,903
Hi Space, interesting articles you have posted here. And the sad fact is most people don't really care as we are so dumbed down. I for one find it to be one of those futuristic paranoia of the authorities movies one step closer to becoming a terrible reality. Remember Fahrenheit 451 or Logans Run and others. WOW to live in the future is going to be one of total obedience, no unauthorized slack time........until...... until we underlings have had enough and rage against the machine....... See you on the Dark Side of the Moon Space.
#10
02-07-2013, 08:22 AM
Thanks `Mike, Greg, member's for your insight & additional infor on this subject...I know that more & more people are getting camera's for their homes for protection & security...The warehouses where I work has security camera's everywhere except the restrooms...(All perimeter's are covered inside & out)..
Can't sleep on the `job here or be tempted to steal anything..
We also have surprise drug testing + our guards have German Shepards & Dob's...It is like a prison compound (lol) Everything that comes in & goes out is recorded & viewed...
It's just not big brother that is watching
everyone is watching...It's becoming a big ****/crime movie out there (LOL)...I think that every store or business now has security camera's...
I find it sad that we have to live in a society/world that lives in fear & that camera's are needed to protect, but it is what it is until we can somehow find a way to live in Peace & Trust
That's a space dream 4-Sure! Peace/Out
p.s. I'm watching what you post
LOL (I don't like what you are wearing 2day) LOL I can't believe the member's that post in their underwear or nothing @ `all (LOL)....R U watching me 2 ? (LOL) Please tape your computer camera lens (LOL)p.s. I've never watched the TV show "Person of Interest", but it sure sounds interesting ? Has anyone watched it ?
If you have, is it any good ? Is it real ?
Last edited by Space; 02-07-2013 at 08:30 AM.