GM = Government Meddlers?

General Motors’ OnStar onboard navigation and emergency system is set to collect drivers’ GPS locations and other personal data, even for customers who discontinue the monthly service, a policy change that some see as a gross and unnecessary invasion of privacy.

This is the kind of thing that happens when a company’s largest stakeholder is the Federal Government. The fact that you can contact OnStar to opt out of this is the only thing keeping it out of the courts.

OnStar, a subsidiary of GM, began emailing customers Monday (Sept. 19) about the updated privacy policy, which gives it the right to collect and share customers’ information, including name, address, telephone and email address, billing information (including credit card number), vehicle identification number and make, model and year along with diagnostic information such as tire pressure and odometer readings. These details, along with the car’s GPS coordinates, are collected in the event of an emergency and to improve vehicle maintenance. But OnStar’s revised policy grants the company the right to share customers’ information with “law enforcement or other public safety officials, credit card processors and/or third parties we contract with who conduct joint marketing initiatives with OnStar,” including roadside assistance companies, satellite radio providers and data management companies.

Any way you phrase it, this is incredibly creepy. OnStar is literally spying on former customers. I’m glad I drive an american-made Toyota Tundra.