Cadillac Smart Driver and Privacy Concerns

[Jack Tors]

I did the LexisNexis account lock. Hopefully that can contain any damage done.

Do you mean a freeze? If so - I'm genuinely curious how that works out - my understanding is that it will be difficult if not impossible to get auto insurance without lexisnexis providing a CLUE auto report on your driving record.

 

[SS_Shooter]

Checked my app a couple of weeks ago, OnStar Smart Driving was OFF. Today it was ON.

Maybe there was an update...

 

[ernsteeng]

I've been thinking the same thing. The app updates automatically enroll you in the program even if previously opted out. I'm going to try and remember to check the app after updates to see if it is turned back on.

 

[DCV]

It did an update last week.

 

[Jim2000]

This is just plain wrong that when there is an update, it turns the system back on. Don't get me started on our information being shared with insurance companies without our approval.

 

[GTANotch88]

Do we know if these driving reports are still being sent even without an active onstar subscription?
Is the app still usable to check smart driver status, like to see if they re-enroll me?
I currently have the "essentials" plan but I want to cancel it soon. I'm just worried that once I cancel, I wont have access through the app to opt out anymore.
How can we be sure onstar will not log anymore info?
Does the "connected access" feature that goes for 10 years or so have anything to do with this?


SynisterAZ, how did the onstar rep insure that you weren't "connected" anymore?

Is pulling the onstar antenna a possible fix?(once we confirm location) or will it go through however OTA updates are done?

I'm just curious.

 

[SynisterAZ]

So I cancelled all OnStar services and asked that my module be disabled / turned off by them. You have to call to cancel your Onstar plan but when you ask to have the module disabled they have to transfer you to tech support. Tech support verifies what you want and they turn off the module in your car. The Onstar light no longer turns on and I no longer have access to my Cadillac app.

Im sure its possible to physically disconnect the box or antenna but you lose some other stuff like the microphone and compass/GPS. Having them turn it off the car works normally, GPS still works, and I didnt have to go pulling panels.

And the whole point is to not have data tied to your name so even if the module is sending data, its not tied to my name since I no longer have an account. Moreover, from a legal standpoint I am no longer using their free services so I dont consent to their privacy policy and their use of my data is now more complicated should they try.

 

[RS49]

GM is insane for doing this. Who on earth wants to buy a sports car that's going to tattle on them?!?!?

 

[Jim2000]

If my insurance rates go up drastically, I will consider trading in my Blackwing for a different sports car.

 

[GTANotch88]

SynisterAZ, Thanks. I'll be calling onstar to cancel in the next few days.

 

[Slick Blackwings]

GM is insane for doing this. Who on earth wants to buy a sports car that's going to tattle on them?!?!?

It’s not only GM all manufacturers are responsible for this!

 

[BimmerFan]

It’s not only GM all manufacturers are responsible for this!

Absotively!

I work in I/T for the insurance industry. Many of you guys and gals would be shocked, disturbed and/or upset if you knew about all of the data collected on you by various organizations, none of whom are the government, none of whom have gotten your permission to do so, and in some cases (if not all) there is no way to "opt out". This is why the government, for once, is doing the right thing by banning the Chinese ownership of TickyTock. Of course, domestic ownership of all of this data isn't much better (see: Facebook) but at least it's your fellow Americans who are out to get you, not some foreign country.

LOL

I don't want this to turn into a political thread, I'm not advocating government intrusion or suppression of free speech. I'm just saying that there is good reason to be concerned.

If you want to learn more about this kind of thing, read the book No Place To Hide by Robert O'Harrow, Jr. If you don't like to read, watch the movie The Great Hack.

OK, I gotta go, my new tinfoil hat needs some adjustment.

 

[coffee_time]

The auto-enrollment is puzzling. I turned mine off the day I bought my car and it hasn’t turned itself back on. Multiple updates to the app too.

 

[RS49]

Absotively!

I work in I/T for the insurance industry. Many of you guys and gals would be shocked, disturbed and/or upset if you knew about all of the data collected on you by various organizations, none of whom are the government, none of whom have gotten your permission to do so, and in some cases (if not all) there is no way to "opt out". This is why the government, for once, is doing the right thing by banning the Chinese ownership of TickyTock. Of course, domestic ownership of all of this data isn't much better (see: Facebook) but at least it's your fellow Americans who are out to get you, not some foreign country.

LOL

I don't want this to turn into a political thread, I'm not advocating government intrusion or suppression of free speech. I'm just saying that there is good reason to be concerned.

If you want to learn more about this kind of thing, read the book No Place To Hide by Robert O'Harrow, Jr. If you don't like to read, watch the movie The Great Hack.

OK, I gotta go, my new tinfoil hat needs some adjustment.

Here, you'll enjoy this. It's a warning from the past...

 

[BW56M]

The auto-enrollment is puzzling. I turned mine off the day I bought my car and it hasn’t turned itself back on. Multiple updates to the app too.

I opted out as soon as heard of this BS. Been checking before and after every drive and it hasn't turned back on........yet. I don't think opting out or canceling subscriptions is going to stop this collection of data, but no sense in making it easier for them. We would probably be amazed at how much spying and selling of information that goes on.

 

[1Evil55]

Does any of the onstar communication get used by the asshole car thieves using scanners to pick up your key fob from inside the house to get in the cars?

 

[albertw]

In addition to speeding, braking and accelerating hard, are high cornering loads reported?

Reason I ask is that I very seldom do any of that except for high g turns. My cornering speed is usually close to what is called excessive speed here - 40 km/hr over the posted limit (not the corner advisory speed) - which gets your car impounded immediately for a week and you find your own way home, plus serious fines and increases in insurance costs. I don't go faster than that, so I never brake hard into corners unless I've made a mistake, or accelerate hard out of them. And yeah, I probably would have been happy with a CT4V if it came with the great suspension and steering and the manual transmission of the BW.

My concerns about onstar include having my information stolen by a hacker and eventually used for identity theft. In addition to the personal information onstar needs to keep track of me, I suspect that knowing all the places I go to routinely would be useful to that sort of criminal. Many reports have listed car manufacturers as having the weakest security of large manufacturers.

I have to get serious about deciding what to do about onstar as my 4BW build date was yesterday.

 

[RS49]

Does any of the onstar communication get used by the asshole car thieves using scanners to pick up your key fob from inside the house to get in the cars?

Probably. And apparently those same assholes know how to disable OnStar in less time than it takes to drive to the gas station.

In addition to speeding, braking and accelerating hard, are high cornering loads reported?

Reason I ask is that I very seldom do any of that except for high g turns. My cornering speed is usually close to what is called excessive speed here - 40 km/hr over the posted limit (not the corner advisory speed) - which gets your car impounded immediately for a week and you find your own way home, plus serious fines and increases in insurance costs. I don't go faster than that, so I never brake hard into corners unless I've made a mistake, or accelerate hard out of them. And yeah, I probably would have been happy with a CT4V if it came with the great suspension and steering and the manual transmission of the BW.

My concerns about onstar include having my information stolen by a hacker and eventually used for identity theft. In addition to the personal information onstar needs to keep track of me, I suspect that knowing all the places I go to routinely would be useful to that sort of criminal. Many reports have listed car manufacturers as having the weakest security of large manufacturers.

I have to get serious about deciding what to do about onstar as my 4BW build date was yesterday.

The C8 Corvette guys have apparently figured out where their OnStar/Cellular antenna wire is.

I think disconnecting it physically is the only way anyone is going to be able to be sure they're not being spied on until GM steps up and addresses this. I have to imagine it's a shared part between Caddy and GM so when my car gets here I might look around and see what I can find. Here's the one on the C8 (supposedly) located under one of the front fender liners;

 

[BimmerFan]

My concerns about onstar include having my information stolen by a hacker and eventually used for identity theft.

I wouldn't worry too much about that. They won't have your social security (unless you financed with GMAC) or driver's license number. Anything else (or rather, everything else) about you, any decent Google user can find without hacking into anything.

Just put a lock on your credit reports and Lexis Nexis and anything else that you can think of, and that's about the best that we can do these days.

 

[BimmerFan]

Does any of the onstar communication get used by the asshole car thieves using scanners to pick up your key fob from inside the house to get in the cars?

I don't think so -those are totally different systems. The fob hacking thing is real, but not widely used in the USA AFAIK. The truly paranoid can store their fob in a faraday cage. I just keep the car in the garage. When it's in the parking lot at work, I just count on my insurance to pay up if it disappears. Which I hope it doesn't, as it's a pain finding one of these things, still.

I remember reading a story about how some thieves would steal a Chevy (Corvette, or truck) from a test drive, and the first thing they do is rip out the on-star module. Then they can often drive it for months, years, before they get caught doing something else. So how hard could it be?

I really like the safety factor of having on-star notify EMS if I were to get into an accident. I do not like the fact that they track my every move, and that they want money for that potentially life-saving feature (which was included for free for the first 4 years on my BMWs). So when my trial period is up, I may well be tempted to yank that on-star antenna myself.