GM adds kill switch via OnStar in 2009

[Brian Bartholomew]

http://www.gadgetreview.com/gm-adds-remote-kill-switch-to-onstar-vehicles

"Some will take comfort in knowing that GM’s OnStar system can slow a vehicle’s speed in the event of a chase, but others, like me take fear in knowing that Big Brother or perhaps even a 2k bug could render my vehicle powerless (that is if I owned a GM) . Adding to their Stolen Vehicle Assistance services, OnStar launched Ignition block, a remote kill switch that can disable the vehicle’s ignition by working in concert with the system’s built-in GPS. The service is available on select 2009 and 2010 GM vehicles."

https://www.onstar.com/us/en/services/security.html

"If your vehicle is stolen, OnStar can use GPS to pinpoint it and help authorities quickly recover it. On many models, an Advisor can send a signal to slow the vehicle or prevent it from restarting."

http://media.gm.com/media/us/en/gm/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2013/Oct/1008-onstar.html

"Nearly 250 times in the last five years, a signal to an OnStar-equipped stolen vehicle has helped stop a car thief in the act, gradually and safely slowing the vehicle to avoid a high-speed chase.

OnStar’s Stolen Vehicle Slowdown is one of three Stolen Vehicle Assistance tools OnStar offers subscribers. A Remote Ignition Block makes it impossible to start a stolen vehicle once turned off. And a GPS location can be provided to authorities once a vehicle is confirmed stolen."

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Golly, maybe it's a good year to get that mechanically-injected diesel truck restoration I always wanted.
Slowed down in daytime for a bear with three cubs on the road last week. Don't want a lighter vehicle.

Brian

[Randy Fischer]

On Sun, Oct 1, 2017 at 1:24 AM, 'Brian Bartholomew' via Gainesville Hackerspace <gainesville...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

http://www.gadgetreview.com/gm-adds-remote-kill-switch-to-onstar-vehicles

"Nearly 250 times in the last five years, a signal to an OnStar-equipped stolen vehicle has helped stop a car thief in the act, gradually and safely slowing the vehicle to avoid a high-speed chase.

Curious: how many signals total have been sent? 250 true-positives out of 251 wouldn't bother me. 250/1000 would. OnStar, some raw data, please.

Also: this is a private company, not a Government Big Brother conspiracy. Right-leaning libertarians should therefore be OK with this: let the market decide (I'd disable this 'feature', myself, by buying a non GM car).

 

[Randy Fischer]

Sorry, I'd meant to send my comment to the redoubtable and most highly esteemed BB, not to this list.

Move along, nothing to see here.

-Randy 

On Sun, Oct 1, 2017 at 1:59 AM, Randy Fischer <randy....@gmail.com> wrote: