Cadillac Smart Driver and Privacy Concerns

[Sully]

I sold my CTS-V and bought my BW in January of this year so I still have some data (on the LN report) from the old car there, even though I had no active onstar subscription on it.

Therein lies the rub; TOS change quite often, wordsmith'd by lawyers, with often subtle changes which don't stand out but have very real functional changes to a service. Following the changes to TOS is a job in itself which is by design.

I can see some folks enjoy the Smart Driver and are OK with the results of using the service. That said, I think there's also a large majority (such as myself) that would of gave a big hell no to the dealer at time of purchase if the disclaimer was provided..

e.g. "We may, at any point, enable/re-enable a service, which will track all your driving habits and locations; we will monetize that data by selling it to 3rd parties, data brokers, and insurance providers which may impact insurance premiums..."

I know for me, after the deluge of paperwork during the purchase process, I certainly didn't log onto the OnStar/GM site to read their TOS in the showroom before I signed the papers. I had an assumption of knowledge of what the service provided and the data access required. However, I never thought they'd feed large data brokers like LN with this sort of information with attribution that could then be used against me. My brother is LEO and regularly uses LN for investigations, the sheer scope of data attached to a singular person is amazing.. he ran my info once and it had pictures of my various vehicles passing through tolls for years back, found out the state I used to live in sells that data to LN as well.

Either way, most of us have sold our data souls to one service or another, in this case, I just pulled the plug... that's my Opt-Out.

 

[coffee_time]

Ahh man, so much for that data only being available for 6 months on a LN pull My report stopped at the 6 month mark so was hopeful that was true

I think I worded it poorly.

It is only 6 months of data. But that data:
1) does not drop off if you sell the car
2) does not stop collecting data even if you don't have an onstar subscription

So since I sold my old car in January, it should be gone by June off the LN report.

 

[jwolf99]

Ahh man, so much for that data only being available for 6 months on a LN pull My report stopped at the 6 month mark so was hopeful that was true

My report only showed last 6 months of activity and I've owned my 5BW for 2.5 years

 

[AtrociKitty]

I bought my car used (from a Cadillac dealer) and have never used the app. Received my LexisNexis report today...

And there was nothing there, as I expected. Please do not install the app if you don't need to. All you're doing is opting in during install to opt back out again. There is nothing tying the car to your identity if you've never used OnStar or the app.

 

[BWDudeBro]

I bought my car used (from a Cadillac dealer) and have never used the app. Received my LexisNexis report today...

And there was nothing there, as I expected. Please do not install the app if you don't need to. All you're doing is opting in during install to opt back out again. There is nothing tying the car to your identity if you've never used OnStar or the app.

Exact same situation over here. I bought the car used from a non-Caddy dealer, never a word uttered about OnStar or Smart Driver. I only hesitated because I faintly remember stepping through some settings/ menus on the car's infotainment screen when I got it and coming across some consent-y language. Maybe it was for PDR?

In either case, my report arrived today and while I'm pissed at how much LN knows about me in general, I was pleased to see nothing related to my driving records.

For a while I was annoyed I couldn't find my BW spec in a new car, but now I'm realizing purchasing a 300mi "used" car from a non GM dealer was a blessing in disguise.

 

[coffee_time]

Did anyone get their LN report and have it contain a shit load of incorrect data? I’m apparently associated with some Parish I’ve never heard of

 

[Jack Tors]

fyi: post on techdirt about this:
GM, LexisNexis Sued For (Nontransparent) Sale Of Driver Behavior Data To Insurers

 

[Jack Tors]

I bought my car used (from a Cadillac dealer) and have never used the app. Received my LexisNexis report today...

And there was nothing there, as I expected. Please do not install the app if you don't need to. All you're doing is opting in during install to opt back out again. There is nothing tying the car to your identity if you've never used OnStar or the app.

Question:
I bought used and made it a point to not activate onstar on delivery.
I recently installed the mycadillac app + added the vin in order to add the tracking / remote functionality (before we realized that GM was selling our info).
The app shows me nothing and instructs me to press the blue onstar button in order to enable any functionality. Does this sound like onstar hasn't associated telemetry with me? Can I call onstar to opt out just with the vin? or not necessary?

 

[BimmerFan]

Question:
... instructs me to press the blue onstar button in order to enable any functionality.

I believe that you have to pay in order to get the onstar telemetry to function. They want you to press the blue button so that you can supply your credit card number.

 

[coffee_time]

I believe that you have to pay in order to get the onstar telemetry to function. They want you to press the blue button so that you can supply your credit card number.

Nope. I never paid for onstar on my previous V and it was active for me.

 

[coffee_time]

Question:
I bought used and made it a point to not activate onstar on delivery.
I recently installed the mycadillac app + added the vin in order to add the tracking / remote functionality (before we realized that GM was selling our info).
The app shows me nothing and instructs me to press the blue onstar button in order to enable any functionality. Does this sound like onstar hasn't associated telemetry with me? Can I call onstar to opt out just with the vin? or not necessary?

Go into the app, click your initials on top right, click settings, click Cadillac smart driver.

 

[Jack Tors]

Go into the app, click your initials on top right, click settings, click Cadillac smart driver.

Thanks Coffee - In the app, under user, settings, I see only units of measure, regional info, and delete account

When I launch the app I get a message "ready to activate your onstar safety and security services? drive a safer, more connected vehicle today" and has a button below labeled "I'm ready"
If I click that button, the app instructs me to push the onstar button to connect me with an advisor to activate my onstar services.

I just want to make sure that no data is being harvested. I did request reports from LN etc.

 

[coffee_time]

Thanks Coffee - In the app, under user, settings, I see only units of measure, regional info, and delete account

When I launch the app I get a message "ready to activate your onstar safety and security services? drive a safer, more connected vehicle today" and has a button below labeled "I'm ready"
If I click that button, the app instructs me to push the unstar button to connect me with an advisor to activate my onstar services.

I just want to make sure that no data is being harvested. I did request reports from LN etc.

Sounds like you might be safe. You’ll know for sure after you get your report

 

[BimmerFan]

Nope. I never paid for onstar on my previous V and it was active for me.

I was replying to Jack, who bought his car used. If you bought it new, then you had 6 months free onstar.

 

[coffee_time]

I was replying to Jack, who bought his car used. If you bought it new, then you had 6 months free onstar.

I bought my previous car used.

 

[xBLAHx]

I too had my OnStar telematics data shared, even though I never signed up for Smart Driver.

Just read this news though that GM will (supposedly) stop sharing that data as of March 20th

GM stops sharing driver data with brokers amid backlash

Customers, wittingly or not, had their driving data shared with insurers.

arstechnica.com

 

[savethemanual]

I too had my OnStar telematics data shared, even though I never signed up for Smart Driver.

Just read this news though that GM will (supposedly) stop sharing that data as of March 20th

GM stops sharing driver data with brokers amid backlash

Customers, wittingly or not, had their driving data shared with insurers.

arstechnica.com

So a couple of things-

1. What happens to data already shared? They have any plans to claw it back.
2. Bigger concern is they're saying they stopped sharing with LexisNexis but are not committing to not sharing at all with any other firms. Weird wording.

 

[GTANotch88]

I'm kinda waiting to see the class action lawsuit and how to join.

 

[KnightI2]

Not much more here then the ars link but here it is:

In Stunning Reversal, GM Stops Sharing Vehicle Driving Data With Brokers | GM-Trucks.com

General Motors has terminated its relationships with two prominent data brokers, LexisNexis Risk Solutions and Verisk, amidst allegations of improper sharing

www.gm-trucks.com

 

[RS49]

So a couple of things-

1. Bigger concern is they're saying they stopped sharing with LexisNexis but are not committing to not sharing at all with any other firms. Weird wording.

They just got into bed with Google for their infotainment. They don't need LexisNexis or Verisk money anymore. Their spy ring just got a huge dose of steroids, a bump in pay and extra layer of protection via Google.