[bolty_guy]

There is certainly an argument to be made that the ship has sailed and the horse has left the barn. If you have a cellphone then someone knows where you are at all times (assuming you have your phone.) So, the data the car is sending may be considered somewhat redundant at that point. They can get your speed from your cellphone as well as how hard you accelerate and decelerate. Basically anything the car can tell someone, so can your phone. Also, a lot of large cities install license plate readers in town so they know where your car has been and when. If you pay for things with a credit or debit card you're leaving digital footprints of not only where you were and when but what kind of money you spend and how you spend it. The government gets regular reports from all your employers about how much money you made. Your bank tells on you too. Thus, there is an argument that you basically cannot be "off the grid" unless you move into an Amish community. Even then, they technically use the roads so they are probably partially tracked too.

Now, I'm not saying I don't agree with those who would like to get the government and/or GM to butt out. I really have serious reservations about all the data we're constantly providing to people with little recourse. I'm just saying it is so pervasive now that it would make George Orwell sick to his stomach. Big brother didn't need to install spy TVs in our homes, we bought the spy hardware and paid good money for it. We're under more surveillance now than in 1984 and mostly we just ignore it. The one thing a book like 1984 got wrong is that there are too many people to harass everyone. So, they have to content themselves with picking and choosing. Luckily, most of us are too boring and/or too unimportant to harass.

There is an important distinction between the two. Firstly, my phone location is always disabled. My phone runs xposed framework with privacy guard to ensure my apps dont leak data. You are correct that cell phone triangulation is possible. However that is not within the realm of the private sector. I am not so concerned about the Gov having (some of) my data - I have nothing really to hide. But when an independent 3rd party company with self-interest in mind can minute by minute track my every move, and even worse, has been known to act on that data against my best interests (ie sharing with insurance companies) - that is deeply concerning.

 

[MichBolt]

There is certainly an argument to be made that the ship has sailed and the horse has left the barn. If you have a cellphone...
...license plate readers...
...credit or debit card...
...regular reports from all your employers...

...I am not so concerned about the Gov having (some of) my data - I have nothing really to hide. But when an independent 3rd party company with self-interest in mind...

You're both right. From an individual's perspective, a great deal of their personal / private data is accessible to other entities, whether governmental or private. That ship has largely sailed. However, not every piece of data is accessible to every entity, and it can be worthwhile to prevent entity A from having my location data even if entity B already has it.

I do find it interesting, however, that some people perceive the greater threat to come from private entities rather than government. Historically, and in terms of our legal framework, most privacy protections are designed to protect us from government, because government had extraordinary power. Now, some perceive private companies (particularly tech companies) to have arguably MORE power than government, in part because of what machine learning algorithms have been able to do with data and how the use of that data can impact us.

And even anonymous location data isn't really anonymous.

Your Apps Know Where You Were Last Night, and They’re Not Keeping It Secret (Published 2018)

Dozens of companies use smartphone locations to help advertisers and even hedge funds. They say it’s anonymous, but the data shows how personal it is.

www.nytimes.com

 

[bolty_guy]

Here is a basic overview of the steps to disable the OnStar module. This guide is my personal journey on how I disabled the OnStar module. Obviously I take no responsibly for any damage you do to your car, and modifying your car in any way may void your warranty.

OnStar uses a Telematics Control Module manufactured by LG, model TTA20ANEBN . it controls the signals for 4gLTE as well as GPS.

The first step is to disable the battery. Simply disconnect the negative terminal. If you dont know how to do this, then stop now.

Next move the steering wheel as far down as it can go.

Begin removing the trim around the push start button. You can do this by hand, start from the bottom and pull gently.

Once it starts to come away, start disconnecting the clips where the trim meets the dash

It is a bit tricky to get free. You may need to use a curved tool like this

to release the catch before you begin to pull away.

Once the trim has been pulled away a a bit, you will see two screws like this

Remove those. I think its 7mm hex

There are two more hidden screws which can be accesses by removing the glove compartment

and reaching up into the cavity into the approximate location indicated in the image.

They are 7mm hex as well. You can find them by feeling around, or use an endoscope camera.

Once those 4 screws are out, begin pulling gently by hand under the screen, at the silver trim. It should pop out slightly. Then insert a flathead screwdriver at the rightmost part of the trim

and start pulling gently away. work your way downward around the trim. you dont need any tools, it can be done by hand. Once the lower part is free, pull on that gently to release the clips on the upper part (near the ac vents)

Finally, the entire screen assembly with the black piano gloss trim should pop off. This is your view.

 

[bolty_guy]

Part 2:

The lower unit is what we're after. Remove the 2 screws as shown, and slide the unit out. There are 3 connectors.

release the safety clips, and pull to remove. Reassemble the vehicle is reverse order.

Thats it!

 

[bolty_guy]

Note: while poking around, i realized, you can access the TCU wiring from within the glove compartment as well, by sticking your hand in, and to the left, you can feel where the 3 wires are connected to the unit. this means you can disable the unit without dissembling the car. you will need to know where to feel, you cant just go ripping out wires. but if you use an endoscope, you can get a visual and guide you in pulling the wires, then the entire procedure can be done from within the glove compartment, making this a completely non-invasive procedure.

Good luck!!

 

[Collin80]

The purple and brown connectors are the antennas. If you disconnect just those two you should have no GPS and no 4g but the module will still be there and respond so the rest of the car will probably freak out less. It will just think you don't have service and it's too cloudy for GPS.

Edit: And, for what it's worth, I have experience with equipment like this and having no antenna. On a system like this where you have an external antenna but no cable is connected you get NOTHING. I can be practically dry humping the router and still the equipment will have no signal at all. So, this really is a very effective means of neutering the beast.

 

[52206]

Part 2:

The lower unit is what we're after. Remove the 2 screws as shown, and slide the unit out. There are 3 connectors.
View attachment 58294

release the safety clips, and pull to remove. Reassemble the vehicle is reverse order.

Thats it!

View attachment 58296

Can't you just pull the Onstar fuse and accomplish the same effect? Thanks.

 

[slowcooker]

Hey all - just made an account to document my experience trying to disable the OnStar module and get more information from others who've gone down this route.

My rule from the start was not to do anything that's difficult to reverse, and not do anything that harms the functionality of the car. Though I have zero use for OnStar I want to be able to revert it to stock in case I sell in the future, and I don't want to pull the fuse and lose the ability to make calls while driving. To that end I decided to use bolty_guy's wonderful photos and information to remove the glove compartment, reach in, and disconnect the telematics module without removing it completely. Once I looked at the photos, looked inside myself (with the help of a flashlight & camera) and fumbled around a bit it wasn't too difficult to reach everything by putting my arm into the glove compartment cavity and turning left.

I decided to start just by disconnecting the antennas, encouraged by Collin80's post:

The purple and brown connectors are the antennas. If you disconnect just those two you should have no GPS and no 4g but the module will still be there and respond so the rest of the car will probably freak out less. It will just think you don't have service and it's too cloudy for GPS.

Edit: And, for what it's worth, I have experience with equipment like this and having no antenna. On a system like this where you have an external antenna but no cable is connected you get NOTHING. I can be practically dry humping the router and still the equipment will have no signal at all. So, this really is a very effective means of neutering the beast.

Unfortunately this isn't really the case. Without the antenna the reception the Bolt reports is 95% worse - often completely dead - but it does occasionally pick up 1 or (briefly) 2 bars of LTE. For a few days I clicked over to the OnStar menu every time I noticed this happening to see if it was actually able to make a connection and, to my dismay, it has done so a handful of times. So disconnecting the antenna reduces connectivity to 1/20th of normal, but it's still there. Presumably it's still managing to pick it up through the antenna connector stubs on the module itself.

I don't know enough about GPS to ascertain whether that's true of GPS without the antenna as well. I suppose I could reenable location in the Bolt software and test it periodically as I did with mobile data, but I haven't done so yet. If anyone has more expertise on how GPS works to add here it'd be much appreciated.

Next I tried fashioning up a cheap DIY faraday material using aluminum foil and electrical tape and covering the antenna connectors with it. My tech-y friend insisted that this would work, but it hasn't made any difference whatsoever.

So now it seems I'm left with two options:

1. Buy effective faraday material and try to cover more of the module with it. On the plus side this isn't any more "invasive" than what I've already done and I know it won't impact the operation of the vehicle. On the other hand it may not work (there's not a lot of space in there to wrap the module completely) and I don't know how to ascertain whether the material I'm buying is actually effective & non-conductive or if it's BS junk made for crazy people. I don't want OnStar tracking my car because it's creepy, but I'm not worried about 5G invading my brain or whatever. When I try searching much of what comes up is conspiracy junk.
2. Unplug the power cable from the telematics module. On the plus side this will by definition be effective. On the other hand it will be harder to re-plug later (due to its positioning), I worry about the safety of an exposed power cable (would need to tape over), and most of all I'm concerned that the car may freak out, throw error codes, or otherwise lose functionality.

Part 2:

The lower unit is what we're after. Remove the 2 screws as shown, and slide the unit out. There are 3 connectors.
View attachment 58294

release the safety clips, and pull to remove. Reassemble the vehicle is reverse order.

Thats it!

View attachment 58296

It's been a few months - have you (or anyone else who's done this) had any errors, issues, or degradation of functionality after completely disconnecting the module?

If anyone else has gone through this process or has any insight to share (including on faraday materials) I'd love to hear it. No matter what steps I take next I'll be sure to post updates.

 

[ChevyDude]

An unterminated antenna connector will still conduct and receive signals.
However, the open connector will have a lot of attenuation(reduction).
Imho, you want to terminate the antenna connector, and shield it.
From the pictures, it looks like the module has Fakra Z male connectors. If that is the case, then following will may work. Use tie wraps on both side of the aluminum tube shield.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PFLZ4HF/?th=1

Bingfu Fakra Z Female to SMA Female Vehicle Antenna Adapter Cable 30cm 12 inch for Car Stereo Android Head Unit GPS Navigation FM AM Radio Sirius XM Satellite Radio 4G LTE Telematics Bluetooth Module Visit the BINGFU Store 4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 40 ratings Amazon's Choice in GPS Antennas by BINGFU $6.99

https://www.amazon.com/DHT-Electronics-coaxial-connector-Termination/dp/B00BXUYDMM/

DHT Electronics RF coaxial Connector Adapter SMA Male coaxial Termination Loads 1W DC- 3.0GHz 50 ohm Pack of 2 Brand: DHT Electronics 4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 189 ratings $5.50


Note: Make sure you get aluminized sleeving.

https://www.amazon.com/Team-Performance-Aluminized-Sleeving-Protection/dp/B07W7NSDTJ/?th=1

A-Team Performance - Heat Sheath Aluminized Sleeving - for Ultimate Flex Seal Tape Heat Shield Protection Barrier - 1/2" x 36" (3ft) Withstand 500 Degrees F to 2000 degrees F Radiant Heat Visit the A-Team Performance Store 4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 279 ratings 200+ viewed in past month $13.99[/code]

 

[slowcooker]

A quick update - I toggled the GPS today to see if it could fix on a location now that the antenna is disconnected. I sat under a clear open sky for 15 minutes and it reported no GPS the entire time, so I think disconnecting the GPS antenna does completely kill that.

It's just the mobile data that's the issue. As if to rub in that it still works after I toggled the GPS off and on OnStar emailed me to let me know that my GPS status had changed. Hilarious.

 

[slowcooker]

Another update - I pulled the fuse on my 2023 EUV and did not lose bluetooth microphone functionality. They appear to have done the wiring differently, as its on a different header (F02) than previous model years. I have not noticed any adverse effects yet (other than losing mobile data dependent features), but I'll give it a week and report back.

 

[52206]

Another update - I pulled the fuse on my 2023 EUV and did not lose bluetooth microphone functionality. They appear to have done the wiring differently, as its on a different header (F02) than previous model years. I have not noticed any adverse effects yet (other than losing mobile data dependent features), but I'll give it a week and report back.

So the final answer is just to pull the F02 fuse and not mess with disconnecting the cables to the telematics module?

 

[slowcooker]

So the final answer is just to pull the F02 fuse and not mess with disconnecting the cables to the telematics module?

For 2023 models that appears to be the case. For earlier models posts both here and on Reddit say that it causes other issues, such as killing the steering wheel microphone.

I'll report back in a week or so whether anything bad happened. But so far so good.

 

[slowcooker]

A user on the r/BoltEV subreddit compiled this extremely helpful step-by-step photo guide to disabling the OnStar module's data connection using a cable and terminator you can buy off of Amazon. This seems like the best option for those that don't want to totally remove the module and pulling the fuse causes unwanted effects (pre-2023 models, I believe):

https://imgur.com/gallery/n00QKnH

 

[52206]

A user on the r/BoltEV subreddit compiled this extremely helpful step-by-step photo guide to disabling the OnStar module's data connection using a cable and terminator you can buy off of Amazon. This seems like the best option for those that don't want to totally remove the module and pulling the fuse causes unwanted effects (pre-2023 models, I believe):

https://imgur.com/gallery/n00QKnH

It sounds like for those with the refreshed Bolt the fuse is the best option. Sounds like it isn't invasive in how the car is used so it sounds like a win win.

 

[Canada13records]

Anyone know if the telemetry data is stored in the TCU or elsewhere and just uploaded via the TCU? Would be awesome to be place the TCU on a relay that only turn on when the car was in park. This would enable software updates and other connected features but would not include any additional driving metrics or data.

 

[Canada13records]

Anyone know if the telemetry data is stored in the TCU or elsewhere and just uploaded via the TCU? Would be awesome to be place the TCU on a relay that only turn on when the car was in park. This would enable software updates and other connected features but would not include any additional driving metrics or data.

Looking for a privacy button. . .

 

[fromtoport]

So the final answer is just to pull the F02 fuse and not mess with disconnecting the cables to the telematics module?

I pulled F02 yesterday from my 2023 EUV.
There are no lights on at the onstar button cluster at the ceiling, the screen in the middle of the dash shows a "NO-GPS" icon in the top right corner:

 

[v-pilot]

I pulled my fuse too, same "no GPS" icon on infotainment screen. The compass reading on the top center if the DIC is also now stuck on -N- Not worried I have a pretty good sense of direction.

 

[fromtoport]

I pulled my fuse too, same" no GPS icon" on infotainment screen. The compass reading on the top center if the DIC is also now stuck on -N- Not worried I have a pretty good sense of direction.

I got my antenna cable & 75 ohm resistor in today.
Tomorrow I will try that and replacing the fuse and see how that works.
The misses didn't like the red "no-gps" symbol.