Does Onstar scare anybody else?

I'm all for feeling safe, but knowing that someone I've never met can track and stop my vehicle from miles away is a scary thought. I'm scared someday that it is going to be mandatory for the safety of American citizens, cuz we all know our govt is very concerned about making sure we are safe from everyone but them.

Where do you draw the line between feeling independent and free and feeling secure?

P.S. I kind of wish I could work for onstar for a day though, cuz it would be awesome to stop a random vehicle and then start talking in a satanic voice telling them that you are watching them

thats why im not using it :P

thats why im not using it :P

T_REX305

There have been cases where an OnStar-capable car was "taken over?"

[QUOTE="T_REX305"]

thats why im not using it :P

Plzhelpmelearn

i think they can only stop your car if you tell them or if you don't respond after an accident

No they couldn't. Even if you have it activated they can't do anything to your vehicle unless you give the word.

Pirate700

Why can't they?

i think they can only stop your car if you tell them or if you don't respond after an accident

squitsquat

[QUOTE="Pirate700"]No they couldn't. Even if you have it activated they can't do anything to your vehicle unless you give the word.

MrGeezer

Why can't they?

[QUOTE="Pirate700"]No they couldn't. Even if you have it activated they can't do anything to your vehicle unless you give the word.

MrGeezer

Why can't they?

Because it's the law. :|

Pirate700

And that's it?

So basically, you're telling me that they CAN do it.

[QUOTE="Pirate700"]Because it's the law. :|

MrGeezer

And that's it?

So basically, you're telling me that they CAN do it.

[QUOTE="Pirate700"]Because it's the law. :|

MrGeezer

And that's it?

So basically, you're telling me that they CAN do it.

[QUOTE="MrGeezer"]

[QUOTE="Pirate700"]Because it's the law. :|

Tropicalshower

And that's it?

So basically, you're telling me that they CAN do it.

Of course they are able to but they can't legally. What's your point?

Pirate700

Who said I had a point? You said that they can't take control over someone's car, and I asked what's stopping them from doing so.

And the answer is apparently "nothing", they'll just get in trouble if they do it.

[QUOTE="MrGeezer"]

[QUOTE="Pirate700"]No they couldn't. Even if you have it activated they can't do anything to your vehicle unless you give the word.

Pirate700

Why can't they?

What would stop them from breaking the law? A stern "You better not do that."

[QUOTE="Pirate700"]

[QUOTE="MrGeezer"]

Why can't they?

MagnumPI

What would stop them from breaking the law? A stern "You better not do that."

[QUOTE="Tropicalshower"][QUOTE="MrGeezer"]

And that's it?

So basically, you're telling me that they CAN do it.

Plzhelpmelearn

[QUOTE="MagnumPI"]

[QUOTE="Pirate700"]Because it's the law. :|

Pirate700

What would stop them from breaking the law? A stern "You better not do that."

[QUOTE="Plzhelpmelearn"][QUOTE="Tropicalshower"] I'm sure they wouldn't put a random guy in charge of it :P.jalexbrown

[QUOTE="Pirate700"]

[QUOTE="MagnumPI"]

What would stop them from breaking the law? A stern "You better not do that."

Plzhelpmelearn

[QUOTE="MagnumPI"]

[QUOTE="Pirate700"]Because it's the law. :|

Pirate700

What would stop them from breaking the law? A stern "You better not do that."

Never know. It would be funny, not for the driver, but it's not supposed to be since the joke is on them.

[QUOTE="jalexbrown"]

[QUOTE="Plzhelpmelearn"] I'm not sure if onstar is a private company or what, but suppose the gov't took over onstar...now the govt can stop your vehicle whenever they please, and they are the ones who get to control the legal system too...Plzhelpmelearn

[QUOTE="jalexbrown"]

[QUOTE="Plzhelpmelearn"] I'm not sure if onstar is a private company or what, but suppose the gov't took over onstar...now the govt can stop your vehicle whenever they please, and they are the ones who get to control the legal system too...Plzhelpmelearn

[QUOTE="Plzhelpmelearn"][QUOTE="jalexbrown"] No more police chases? I kind of like the idea.

Pirate700

No it doesn't bother me because I know the system would not be used on my vehicle for no reason. If you don't like the system, then don't have it activated on your car.

Pirate700

Nothing is ever done for "no reason". The question is whether or not there is a "reason" for "the system" to be used in a way which it harms people.

Right now, the answer appears to be "no".

But the whole "no reason" thing is merely misdirection. If "the system" were ever to be misused, of course it wouldn't be misused for "no reason". A more reasonable question is how do you know that there won't arise a "reason" for "the system" to be misused?

[QUOTE="Plzhelpmelearn"][QUOTE="jalexbrown"] No more police chases? I kind of like the idea.

jalexbrown

Not really..i haven't heard of any bad things happening as a result of it..

[QUOTE="Pirate700"]

[QUOTE="Plzhelpmelearn"] I think safety is one of oppressions biggest justifications in recent history. I am not an anarchist or nothing, but when other people have direct control over my own private property i think they have gone too far. Plzhelpmelearn

[QUOTE="Plzhelpmelearn"][QUOTE="jalexbrown"] No more police chases? I kind of like the idea.

jalexbrown

If the gov't wanted to they could easily kill everyone on planet earth in a few minutes. I think they (or at least some of them) are much more interested in controlling people, which makes me interested in giving them as little control over every aspect of my life as possible. The less control and power they have, the less they can abuse, in my eyes anyway.

[QUOTE="jalexbrown"][QUOTE="Plzhelpmelearn"] I think safety is one of oppressions biggest justifications in recent history. I am not an anarchist or nothing, but when other people have direct control over my own private property i think they have gone too far. Plzhelpmelearn

If the gov't wanted to they could easily kill everyone on planet earth in a few minutes. I think they (or at least some of them) are much more interested in controlling people, which makes me interested in giving them as little control over every aspect of my life as possible. The less control and power they have, the less they can abuse, in my eyes anyway.

[QUOTE="Plzhelpmelearn"][QUOTE="Pirate700"]Again, don't have the service in your vehicle then. Problem solved.

Pirate700

[QUOTE="Pirate700"]

[QUOTE="Plzhelpmelearn"] I don't think I'll ever by a car that is onstar equipped, especially in this cell phone age. I'm just afraid that is what is next on the gov'ts list of mandatory things to help "protect us"Plzhelpmelearn

[QUOTE="Plzhelpmelearn"][QUOTE="Pirate700"]Hey I'm against a 'police state' as much as the next guy but I think you're reaching for something to be afraid of here. What do you think they would have to gain by randomly stopping law abiding citizens? If you aren't driving a stolen vehicle or are on the run there would be no reason for the car to be stopped.

Pirate700

If the gov't wanted to they could easily kill everyone on planet earth in a few minutes. I think they (or at least some of them) are much more interested in controlling people, which makes me interested in giving them as little control over every aspect of my life as possible. The less control and power they have, the less they can abuse, in my eyes anyway.

Plzhelpmelearn

But again, hardly anyone does stuff for "no reason". There's "no reason" to misuse this technology NOW, so there's no reason for anyone to misuse it. However, it's equally wrong to dismiss people's concerns as irrational. If there ever IS a reason to misuse it, it'll be VERY convenient if this kind of technology has become a feature of every single car on the road.

Right now, it's possible to remotely activate peoples' cell phones and use them to secretly transmit peoples' conversations. How often is that actually DONE, though? I'd wager not often. But that scares me a hell of a lot more than Onstar, and I actually have a cell phone. Cell phones scare me a lot more. Because I can certainly imagine more of a REASON to secretly use people's phones as spying devices, than I can imagine a REASON for the government to use Onstar in order to shut down your car.

Concern about this level of control is absolutely warranted, but I think that Onstar is small potatoes. No one does stuff for no reason, so WHY would Onstar be used to shut down your car? What does anyone actually have to gain from doing that?

"Hello there, i'm Onstar. You are being monitored."

[QUOTE="Plzhelpmelearn"]

If the gov't wanted to they could easily kill everyone on planet earth in a few minutes. I think they (or at least some of them) are much more interested in controlling people, which makes me interested in giving them as little control over every aspect of my life as possible. The less control and power they have, the less they can abuse, in my eyes anyway.

MrGeezer

But again, hardly anyone does stuff for "no reason". There's "no reason" to misuse this technology NOW, so there's no reason for anyone to misuse it. However, it's equally wrong to dismiss people's concerns as irrational. If there ever IS a reason to misuse it, it'll be VERY convenient if this kind of technology has become a feature of every single car on the road.

Right now, it's possible to remotely activate peoples' cell phones and use them to secretly transmit peoples' conversations. How often is that actually DONE, though? I'd wager not often. But that scares me a hell of a lot more than Onstar, and I actually have a cell phone. Cell phones scare me a lot more. Because I can certainly imagine more of a REASON to secretly use people's phones as spying devices, than I can imagine a REASON for the government to use Onstar in order to shut down your car.

Concern about this level of control is absolutely warranted, but I think that Onstar is small potatoes. No one does stuff for no reason, so WHY would Onstar be used to shut down your car? What does anyone actually have to gain from doing that?

[QUOTE="Plzhelpmelearn"]

If the gov't wanted to they could easily kill everyone on planet earth in a few minutes. I think they (or at least some of them) are much more interested in controlling people, which makes me interested in giving them as little control over every aspect of my life as possible. The less control and power they have, the less they can abuse, in my eyes anyway.

MrGeezer

But again, hardly anyone does stuff for "no reason". There's "no reason" to misuse this technology NOW, so there's no reason for anyone to misuse it. However, it's equally wrong to dismiss people's concerns as irrational. If there ever IS a reason to misuse it, it'll be VERY convenient if this kind of technology has become a feature of every single car on the road.

Right now, it's possible to remotely activate peoples' cell phones and use them to secretly transmit peoples' conversations. How often is that actually DONE, though? I'd wager not often. But that scares me a hell of a lot more than Onstar, and I actually have a cell phone. Cell phones scare me a lot more. Because I can certainly imagine more of a REASON to secretly use people's phones as spying devices, than I can imagine a REASON for the government to use Onstar in order to shut down your car.

Concern about this level of control is absolutely warranted, but I think that Onstar is small potatoes. No one does stuff for no reason, so WHY would Onstar be used to shut down your car? What does anyone actually have to gain from doing that?

Can you think of one logical scenerio where there would be a reason on their end to randomly shutdown peoples vehicles and misuse the power?

Pirate700

Sure can't, which is why I specifically made a point of saying that Onstar doesn't worry me. But contrast, I can ABSOLUTELY imagine a reason to secretly use people's cell phones to spy on them, which is why that DOES scare me.

Now, if someone else can think of a reason why Onstar would be misused, then they'd be fully justified in being cautious about it.

But again, think it's small potatoes. I can't possibly imagine Onstar being more dangerous than the cell phones that every single one of us carries around without any kind of concern or worry.

[QUOTE="MrGeezer"]

[QUOTE="Plzhelpmelearn"]

If the gov't wanted to they could easily kill everyone on planet earth in a few minutes. I think they (or at least some of them) are much more interested in controlling people, which makes me interested in giving them as little control over every aspect of my life as possible. The less control and power they have, the less they can abuse, in my eyes anyway.

Pirate700

But again, hardly anyone does stuff for "no reason". There's "no reason" to misuse this technology NOW, so there's no reason for anyone to misuse it. However, it's equally wrong to dismiss people's concerns as irrational. If there ever IS a reason to misuse it, it'll be VERY convenient if this kind of technology has become a feature of every single car on the road.

Right now, it's possible to remotely activate peoples' cell phones and use them to secretly transmit peoples' conversations. How often is that actually DONE, though? I'd wager not often. But that scares me a hell of a lot more than Onstar, and I actually have a cell phone. Cell phones scare me a lot more. Because I can certainly imagine more of a REASON to secretly use people's phones as spying devices, than I can imagine a REASON for the government to use Onstar in order to shut down your car.

Concern about this level of control is absolutely warranted, but I think that Onstar is small potatoes. No one does stuff for no reason, so WHY would Onstar be used to shut down your car? What does anyone actually have to gain from doing that?

Hope you were wearing your facial covering today because your vehicle has been deactivated. GOOD LUCK!!!

[QUOTE="MrGeezer"]

[QUOTE="Pirate700"]Because it's the law. :|

Tropicalshower

And that's it?

So basically, you're telling me that they CAN do it.

yeah that random guy would probably try to kill u

There could be an infinite number of scenarios in which a govt may want to abuse that power. Imagine being in china or iran and the govt being able to find and stop your vehicle when they see fit. It would make it a lot easier for them to get ahold of people I'd imagine

Plzhelpmelearn

In all fairness though, I think it would just be easier to wait for the person to make a phone call (or remotely use their phone as a spy recorder), and then grab them when they're in the shower or on the sofa.

To be fair, I still don't see how Onstar significantly adds any kind of lack of security beyond what most people are already carrying around in their phones.

[QUOTE="Plzhelpmelearn"]There could be an infinite number of scenarios in which a govt may want to abuse that power. Imagine being in china or iran and the govt being able to find and stop your vehicle when they see fit. It would make it a lot easier for them to get ahold of people I'd imagine

MrGeezer

In all fairness though, I think it would just be easier to wait for the person to make a phone call (or remotely use their phone as a spy recorder), and then grab them when they're in the shower or on the sofa.

To be fair, I still don't see how Onstar significantly adds any kind of lack of security beyond what most people are already carrying around in their phones.

Is that phone thing with all phones or just cell phones?

Is that phone thing with all phones or just cell phones?

Plzhelpmelearn

[QUOTE="Plzhelpmelearn"]

Is that phone thing with all phones or just cell phones?

Pirate700

They even have the capability to remotely record conversations?Plzhelpmelearn

Yeah, but (I could be wrong here) I don't think that technology exists with ALL cell phones. Just with the vast majority of new phones released in the last few years.

In any case, using cell phones in this way is also illegal. But that's small consolation, since I can imagine some VERY compelling reasons for these phones to be used in such a way, even if it IS illegal to do so.