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Remove mobile data chip?

21K views 74 replies 35 participants last post by  bubbrubb 
#1 ·
I want to remove or at least disable the cellular phone functionality from my Bolt. I'll get updates by connecting to my wifi at home. No need for big brother to track me.

Where / how?
 
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#7 ·
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.
 
#13 ·
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.
 
#8 ·
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...
 
#9 · (Edited)
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?
 
#11 · (Edited)
,,,,,,,,, I seriously doubt GM is tracking your Bolt EV.
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.
 
#14 ·
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.
 
#17 ·
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.

Well, they *did* get pretty close with Saturn. See where it got them?>:)
 
#12 ·
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.
 
#21 ·
How do they use your data ...

For those who wonder how [at least one of] the mfrs are using our telemetry.

Some years ago I was the database and data analysis designer for Ford's Focus BEV during its first model year. The car has a cellular module with a unique IMEI, which is like your computer's MAC number. Ford made bulk purchases on the AT&T network.

The telemetry was gathered from the OBD unit, formatted, and then transmitted roughly twice/minute. The data streams from all the cellular calls were collected by a store-and-forward provider. This step consolidated all the conversations into a single stream. We used an Internet socket interface to read that stream. The interface fired up relational database calls to store the telemetry records. The relational engine triggered on various data conditions in order to provide services back to the owner via the Web.

The services mainly comprised determining adjacency to favorite charging stations and charging times; plus some sort of efficiency calculations which were intended to reward drivers for good driving habits. The rewards were silly and I never paid attention to it.

One of the first questions I asked Ford was, how much telemetry do you want to keep, for how long, and what do you want me to do with it? They mulled it over, and concluded that they didn't have a long-range plan, so I should just keep everything. So I did.

The telemetry included such things as VIN, GPS location, velocity, braking, steering, acceleration, and lots of technical stuff about the propulsion battery state. Ford engineers eventually requested data summaries which essentially eliminated the VIN and IMEI, and aggregated the values by geolocation, time-of-day, or vehicle feature. They were not interested in monitoring individual cars.

Because I could access the raw data, I could monitor by VIN, and so, for my own amusement, built a Google map page which would draw a car's tracks across the country after it left the factory. It was interesting to see how far owners were taking their BEV's. But Ford never requested any such vehicle visualization.

One final recollection. The telemetry included two wacky semaphores: (1) vehicle inverted, (2) passenger compartment compression. The names tell you everything. Although clearly intended to alert someone that a serious accident occurred, during my time on the project, Ford did not request that I provide them with those values.
 
#22 ·
...... I was the database and data analysis designer for Ford's Focus BEV during its first model year. The car has a cellular module with a unique IMEI, which is like your computer's MAC number. The telemetry was gathered from the OBD unit, ........
While interesting in detail and not surprising, unfortunately these details do not tell us what is happening to the data now, nor what will happen to the data in the future.
 
#25 ·
I had a brief career in Law Enforcement 30 years ago. I don't need to explain my reasons to anyone here, but the answer is pure and simple: I do not want data collected in my car that can be subpeoned at a later point in time. It's nothing to do with whether I'm a bad guy or not. It's everything to do with "my car, my decision" and knowing how trial attorneys can dig through any information trove and turn a saint into a demon and vice versa as the situation calls for it.

If the data isn't there, it can't be (mis)used.

As for all the people replying to a "how to" thread with "nah, don't bother", I do get a chuckle out of the "that wasn't the question asked nor the point raised" factor. Sorry to seem negative, I know every forum has it to a degree, but I never understand the motivation behind posting such a thing.

"How do I reset the bios on my device?"

"Pfft, why would you want to?"

How is that the question? Grandma's old saying about "if you don't have anything useful and/or nice to say..."
 
#26 ·
dmauser's post does zero to make me feel better about it. That stuff gets misused ALL THE TIME. Corps roll over EVERY F'N TIME one of the agencies request data because they are scared to not to. And rightfully so. The bigger the corp the harder the fall, the big guys are too tied into the politics of being in business to not cooperate. Also the bigger the corp the bigger the target for non government misuse of the data.


I am also not blocking my data, so I'm in the "oh well I'm not a criminal so I'll let them have it" camp myself.. I will not disable mine. But come on guys, a user on the forum requests a very specific answer.. And what does he get? He gets a bunch of blow harding up in his thread.
 
#27 ·
Just look at the track record over the past decade or two... its honestly hard to find a single example where somebody DIDNT roll over and hand over data when a inappropriate request was made. Yahoo is the only one that comes to mind. Not to mention private criminals who got their hands on huge data stores from big corp, from either lax security or mishandling.

You're fooling yourself if you think theres no chance of this data getting into gov or private hands.. if you're ok with that, then ok.
 
#28 ·
Although I too am not excited about another database with my location details captured, my life choices (job, lifestyle, etc.) have required me to carry a cell / smartphone with me almost constantly. That tracks my every movement (with or without GPS on) inside or outside the car. So it is what it is.

On another note, you would have been pretty bored looking at my Ford Focus electric data. That car was never more than 40-50 miles from my house. The Bolt is a different story.
 
#29 ·
It speaks to the GM deathgrip on OnStar that they make the whole GPS system so difficult to extract from the vehicle. GM just doesn't "get it" when it comes to what consumers want.

I'd be super-happy to have my car just be a "receptacle and screen" for my mobile phone. Android Auto is far from perfect, but that's the posture I much prefer going forward. I may be more geeky than most in my interests, but I'm pretty mainstream in terms of what other people carry/own. OnStar has never appealed to me. I get the remote unlock, theft disable and god-forbid-I-crashed scenarios, I just don't connect those to paying $40+/mo for, essentially, a second phone/line as desirable and justifiable.
 
#34 ·
lol, see, I take such memes as a badge of honor. Monkeys think that humans are odd eccentric creatures too ;)
 
#35 ·
Here's something to think about. I went for the free Sirius/XM 2-month offer they sent me after the car was almost 2-years old [no, I'd never pay for it]. While SXM is one way down, I wonder if GM has a data sharing deal with SXM where GM sends them info via the ATT cellular data connection on what you listen to. If I had to guess, the answer is yes.
 
#36 ·
AND NOW BACK ON TOPIC!!

This was from a SparkEV, it's the Onstar module. IC402 is the hard-wired SIM module, and CN401 is the external SIM socket, which has been left empty. The resistors (actually jumpers, all black, zero ohms) next to the solder pads (and the CN401 silk) are partially populated, and depending on how you populate them, you can plainly see that they select between the external and internal SIM module. Clearly, some day, an engineer at least was thinking that maybe you could use a different network.

my god - Imagine the flowers, kittens, rainbows and candy sprinkles that would rain down from the heavens if we could snap our own **** SIM card in to our cars.

27128
 
#37 ·
I just got my Bolt, and being paranoid about data privacy, the first thing i did was start hunting for a way to disable the OnSpy tracking. Theres many people complaining about this, but no real advice other than pulling the fuse, which breaks Bluetooth mic - not an option. So out came the tools, and i proceeded to deface my spanking new Bolt, just off the dealers lot.......

An hour later.....

I'm happy to say it is indeed possible to permanently disable OnStar, and it is relatively easy to do, there are some hidden screws and clips though.

I see this is an old thread, but if there's still interest Ill be glad to provide pics and short tutorial.
 
#39 ·
I just got my Bolt, and being paranoid about data privacy, the first thing i did was start hunting for a way to disable the OnSpy tracking. Theres many people complaining about this, but no real advice other than pulling the fuse, which breaks Bluetooth mic - not an option. So out came the tools, and i proceeded to deface my spanking new Bolt, just off the dealers lot.......

An hour later.....

I'm happy to say it is indeed possible to permanently disable OnStar, and it is relatively easy to do, there are some hidden screws and clips though.

I see this is an old thread, but if there's still interest Ill be glad to provide pics and short tutorial.
I got here through a google search on the topic, and am interested.
 
#40 ·
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.
 
#41 ·
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.
 
#42 ·
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.
 
#43 ·
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.
 

Attachments

#47 ·
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.
 
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