Remove mobile data chip?
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761 Posts
Won't that disable Onstar? You may need it one day...
Without a paid subscription, will Onstar even answer "one day"?
Maybe the Vehicle Diagnostics feature of the free option uses the cell connection. Dunno.
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61 Posts
I'm aware. I am not going to pay any subscriptions. I'd rather remove the big brother factor than "one day in the future you MIGHT be in a remote area and you MIGHT need OnStar." Nope, thx, cellular coverage of phones is more than sufficient, no desire to replicate it in my car.
So, has anyone looked into this? I'm sure the dealer will baulk if asked. They wanna mine that consumer data.
There are several utoob videos on disabling Onstar. Basically disconnecting the antenna. IIRC, it's an eSIM so it's not just a matter of removing the SIM. But I'm not certain. I looked into this before getting my Bolt. I don't remember if their was a Bolt-specific video.
removing the fuse is the easiest way. but it will also disable your compass (if you care about that) as well as disabling the mic, so no more bluetooth calls through the speaker system.
i think you have to take the whole dash apart to get to the onstar unit, if you want to just unplug the antennas.
i think you have to take the whole dash apart to get to the onstar unit, if you want to just unplug the antennas.
I occasionally worry about GM knowing my every car move - when, where, how fast, etc etc. The amount of individual trip detail in the MyChevy app is surprising. But then I remember I'm not that interesting, aren't planning on doing something illegal, and I do get some benefit from the car's internet connectivity without paying any extra $ for that service. Trading personal info for the value of a service is today's biz model...
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787 Posts
I would just ignore it. My 2009 Chevy Equinox came with OnStar hardware but no service is available in Puerto Rico. I wish I did have it because it can help my wife if she gets into a problem, but after ten years I have not needed it. I seriously doubt GM is tracking your Bolt EV.
Are you afraid of getting caught driving somewhere you are not permitted to go?
Imagine what Tesla owners must worry about with all those cameras on every vehicle streaming video to the mothership to help teach Elon's AI neural nets to drive...
Depends what you mean by "tracking". They have the data for sure. How long they keep it, what they use if for, to whom do they give it, and so on is not known. I know https://www.voltstats.net/ is able to access some of it, but not all of it. My data are at: https://www.voltstats.net/BoltEV/Stats/Details/10502 for example. We know that GM can access our location anytime in response to simple commercial inquiries, and to members of OnStar requiring a wide variety of services.
Looking at the available history for Driving Activity in the MyChevy app, mine currently goes back to October 2017 at the monthly aggregate level. I got the car in July 2017, but Oct. 2017 is the first month in my history. Weekly goes back to March this year, and daily to April 24, including all individual trips. That's just what's exposed in the app. I have no doubt that they keep detailed data for a long time. They say they share 90 days of my driving info with insurance companies, as a tie-in for selling car insurance. It's all there in the app. So yes, they are watching me. And you too. I suspect if I read the very fine print in something I signed, I gave it all away.
I too am looking for a way to disconnect the GPS antenna w/o a huge amount of effort.
Removing the OnStar fuse is fine with me except the disabling of the mic. Compass disabling is somewhat annoying.
Why should we have to explain ourselves?
How about you give me your birthday and social security number, you would not mind would you? I will delete it right away, and will not do anything with it.
Everyone has things they do not want strangers and their strange machines collecting on them, for some of us it is health and medical info, and for some of us it is where we are going (or in your case, giving strangers your social security number, which 30 years ago you probably would not have thought much about giving away).
Like this person, I don't really want ANYONE who does not need to know something about me to be gathering that info. The sooner we band together and start supporting one another, instead of questioning one another about WHY, the sooner we will start to get a little control over our own data.
I would say the only thing that makes me feel somewhat better about this is that GM is so clearly incompetent at running a hugs multinational company with what appear to be tens if not hundreds of separate software stacks on and related to this vehicle, that most of the data is going into separate little data silos that appear to be poorly integrated.
How about you give me your birthday and social security number, you would not mind would you? I will delete it right away, and will not do anything with it.
Everyone has things they do not want strangers and their strange machines collecting on them, for some of us it is health and medical info, and for some of us it is where we are going (or in your case, giving strangers your social security number, which 30 years ago you probably would not have thought much about giving away).
Like this person, I don't really want ANYONE who does not need to know something about me to be gathering that info. The sooner we band together and start supporting one another, instead of questioning one another about WHY, the sooner we will start to get a little control over our own data.
I would say the only thing that makes me feel somewhat better about this is that GM is so clearly incompetent at running a hugs multinational company with what appear to be tens if not hundreds of separate software stacks on and related to this vehicle, that most of the data is going into separate little data silos that appear to be poorly integrated.
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1,127 Posts
Still waiting for my hug. :x
I mistypped
That's too bad! GM actually seems to better at hugs than any other car company I've ever owned a car from. (Or at least now that I've switched dealers for maintenance.) ...Still, I'm straight, so I'd rather get hug from a female, and all they have is dudes.
Right they are not a data company like Facebook, Google, etc. However, I would not put it past them to start trying to monetize the data in many of many ways that are available. The fact is that we need regulation to control this stuff. I am already fed up with junk mail where my email address was given to some shyster or other. Sometimes, it obvious to me who distributed my data to others, but its not always particularly clear. The sooner the US gets a grip on this, as the Europeans are gradually doing, the better. I am concerned that its going to be like regulation of guns. Normal people want to do it, but politicians don't do it. Our cars are data generators, and the sooner we control the data the better. We knew this when we read the book "1984". How long is it going to take?
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929 Posts
Everybody follows this line of reasoning, think about its logical conclusion.. scary place. "I don't understand why XXX company wants this piece of data from me, but OH WELL I'm not a criminal may as well give it to them."
Yes, but there are trade-offs. I protect my on-line data fastidiously, in part 'cause with the right tools I can get what I want w/out giving my info away. I have no such work-around if I want to know when my car is charged when it's 10 miles away in a parking garage on a L2 charger and I'm at work. That's an informed trade-off I'm willing to make.
The kind of profile GM can build on my from my car's data tells them things that alone, without other data, doesn't have a lot of value to 3rd parties. One exception is GM sharing it with auto insurance companies. I don't know if that can be turned off, and I don't know if I'd get a better deal from Progressive because they have my data. All those fast accel and hard braking events are my wife's anyhow <g>.
And -- if I do decide to use the car to do something illegal, I'll kill the data feed first. [just kidding...]
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