Anybody have OnStar? Be careful what you say...

[DoNotRefill]

VERY scary stuff!!! I guess it makes "black bag" jobs a heck of a lot simpler....

http://news.com.com/2100-1029_3-5109435.html

[ElsewheresDaughter]

1. and they can listen in to conversations in your home...never mind

niters :7

[i_am_not_john_galt]

2. No they can't - not without some kind of bug

when your landline phone's hung up the circuit is broken. It's an old fashioned analog circuit. On a cell phone maybe, who knows. But the need a bug or a wiretap to listen in on your landline phone.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

4. my sister can call her house...without the phone ringing she can hear all

conversations inside her home from anywhere on the planet

on edit: landline is attached to answering machine btw

[LincolnMcGrath]

6. I`ve seen those phones

on the High Tech spy gear sites. Cool to listen in on a babysitter. Or a cheating spouse.

Does she have a regular phone? I lived in a cabin on the Rock River years ago, and when someone called me, their connection often didn`t break completely. If I stayed on the line, I could listen in on their conversations if they called someone else.

[0007]

16. Anyone that has cable or satellite tv can be breached.

[Skip Intro]

18. You mean what you're watching can be monitored?

Or something more?

[Generic Other]

3. Creepy Karpus!

Remind me not to think out loud...

[grasswire]

5. every night about 11 p.m.

....my landline phone makes funny noises, like someone is dialing out from another phone (which isn't happening). It's been happening for several years. It freaks me out.

[HFishbine]

21. Do you have a dial-up modem?

You could have a trojan horse on your computer. Notice any unusual long distance calls?

[stevedeshazer]

7. Holey moley

From your link:

<snip>

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said Tuesday that the FBI is not legally entitled to remotely activate the system and secretly use it to snoop on passengers, because doing so would render it inoperable during an emergency.

In a split 2-1 ruling the majority wrote that "the company could not assist the FBI without disabling the system in the monitored car" and said a district judge was wrong to have granted the FBI its request for surreptitious monitoring.
___________________________________________________________________

This means that it would be just fine for the FBI to tap your Onstar if that wouldn't disable it. Very scary.

[Generic Other]

9. The product has a warranty and is thus protected

Our privacy has nothing to protect it but the Bill of Rights, and they overturned those.

[sendero]

8. unbelievable....

.. the dissenting judge said:

"there is no evidence that any service disruption actually occurred. The record does not indicate that the subjects of the surveillance tried to use the system while the FBI was listening. One cannot disrupt a service unless and until it is being utilized. "

This is a JUDGE? What a MORON! The service is only needed in emergencies - what he is really saying here is "there was no emergency while the surveillance was conducted so everything is Okie Dokie!"

Am I missing something here????

[pstokely]

10. Onstar is a heavy Hannity and Oxyrush advertiser

nt

[DoNotRefill]

11. I wonder...

if the G could press charges for the owner disabling the system. I'm thinking of something along the lines of interfering with an investigation...

:scared:

[TreasonousBastard]

12. There was an article on this...

in the Sunday Times Auto section a few weeks ago.

The FBI bugged the phone system in a car that wasn't identified, but it wasn't an OnStar car. Probably a Lincoln or Mercedes, which use the other system. (Can't remember the name)

GM said firmly that OnStar was incapable of being bugged like this. It would knock out the whole thing aned nothing would happen. The other system is buggable, however.

The question revolved around wiretapping under the new laws. Are wiretap warrants necessary as they would usually be for a home phone?

Scary is the idea that there are circumstances where warrants would not be necessary for any sort of search or investigation. It's not like it's all that difficult to get a warrant if you're not on a fishing expedition.

Listening to you in your car is no worse than bugging your home if you're under investigation. What bothers me is the explosion of warrantless searches under the new laws, and the even larger explosion of subpoenas to get around situations where the searches are questionable.

[ComerPerro]

13. Even if I had OnStar

I don't think they would be listening in on me for very long.

I can see it now.

Some poor OnStar employee, listening to me drive to work:

"Oh, shit. He is singing to Phish again. Somebody kill me, please. Soon!"

[truthspeaker]

14. this is why OnStar has never appealed to me

Even without the bugging. A service that allows my car to be located by GPS anywhere in the country? And once it's located, the doors can be unlocked remotely? No thanks.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

15. or even worse locked or control gas flow, braking..... etc.?

tragic electronic/computerized failure...poor bastard....opps RECALL

[Skip Intro]

17. No way would I (knowingly) have OnStar, etc.

I don't like the fact that my cell phone is 911 enabled, able to be located.

Don't like the fact that my ip address is knowable.

Heck, I'm not thrilled with the v-chip in my tv, now that I think about it. (I'm not entirely kidding about that, either).

But here's the thing with OnStar and the like, and big bro. keeping tabs. Why wouldn't they just equip all new cars with the technology, keep it hidden and secret from the public, and have the monitoring capabilities they want? Its just a small, logical step, from big bro's p.o.v., right?

:tinfoilhat:

[Gin]

19. I have cable tv...are you saying they can monitor me in my house through

my tv? Sorry if this is a stupid question.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

20. everytime these devices are not in use in my house they are unplugged

and my phone lines are disconnected from wall jacks and computer...that includes my TV and its cable wire....excuse me while i ajust the foilhat...it needs tightening

oh and BTW...i resist technology...i refuse to own a cell phone nor do i use the grocery saving cards...by everything with cash and pay all my bills including morgage with money orders...own no credit card either