I agree with social media and Alexa-type devices. That is why I don't post my daily life on a social media account. That is also why our Alexa got unplugged the moment we learned Amazon records and saves everything Alexa hears. That is in a different category than the other forms of privacy invasion, though. ISPs selling our user data and browsing history is not something a person has posted online for all to view. When it comes to selling our personal data, you do not have a choice whether or not it will be sold so your ISP can make millions in advertising. It is being sold whether you like it or not, or even know about it. When it comes to televisions tracking everything you say and watch without your consent, again, you're not willingly or knowingly providing it.

The same can be said about GM and OnStar... if we were unable to opt out of this program, would you not be worried or mad that how you've chosen to drive something you paid for and you own is being monitored like you're some sort of criminal?

 

Thank you very much, I went in and canceled the Smart Driver!

 

Me too! I will not be renewing on-star.

 

Why don't you crush your Corvette as well. That will definitively stop the gathering of data as you drive.

Seriously, the insurance discount with State Farm is for mileage reporting which comes from the monthly Diagnostics Reports. Those reports are separate from the Smart Driver which monitors braking and acceleration events. My 2014 Corvette does not have the Smart Driver option in OnStar, but my 2015 Canyon and 2017 XT5 have it. The 2015 came with Smart Driver off and the 2017 came with Smart Driver on.

The Smart Driver has a feature that can be turned off that will sell your data to insurance companies so they can make offers to you for alternative coverage plans. I turned that one off immediately.

I like OnStar for the emergency reporting mentioned by Foosh and also the free roadside assistance. As long as I have choices about the collection features, it is no different than anything else we subscribe to these days. At least OnStar allows the collection to be turned off and it will stay off. There are many Opt-Out choices that expire each year for credit cards and other accounts we have in our daily lives.

 

A person who is currently paying for OnStar services or has "free" OnStar services is an "Active Account."

So everyone who has a C7 is "Active" the first 5 years. 1 year of that is the Safe and Sound package (or it could even be the Directions and Connections package), which is basically full OnStar, the other 4 years are the Basic plan which gives you the key fob access on your phone and the monthly report e-mails (which checks your car for DTCs).

To opt into the "Smart Driver" feature you have to sign up for it when you register your car online. The website makes it sound cool and recommends you do it, I did not because I don't really want that information sent to OnStar.

Regardless of this, and regardless of if you have OnStar your car has a "Black Box" as part of the AirBag system software which takes a "snapshot" of a lot of current data (from the CAN Bus) and saves it when you have an accident. The police need a warrant to access said "Black Box" but it exists and you can't remove it, so regardless of OnStar you are being logged and there isn't anything you can do about it other than own a pre-1996 car.

 

lol, this keeps getting worse! So let me get this straight, there is a "feature" (that is on by default) that sends our driving history to insurance companies for competitive new quotes. So anytime you want to take your neighbor out to show off your new vette and do a little 0-60 testing, the good hands of Allstate are right there with you? This has to be a joke?

 

When I purchased my 2016 C7 I called my State Farm Rep who told me about their OnStar discount but she quickly added, "I really don't think you want to do that with a Corvettte".

 

No joke...read the details of the Smart Driver feature in OnStar.

 

We have Nationwide, and we signed up for those devices that go in the OBDII port in my wife's car, and in our shared SUV. You get a 10% discount for just signing up regardless of what your report shows. The max discount is 40%.

We ended up w/ 22% and 25% discounts based upon our reports. We were dinged primarily for high mileage, which is a primary risk factor. Fast starts and stops are apparently weighted less than high mileage and night-time driving defined as between (midnight and 4am). There's also a new parameter being monitored, which is idling time, reason being that means you're in gridlocked traffic a lot, which is definitely a risk factor.

I didn't sign up for my C7 either.

 

Nothing personal but I don't believe the whole "black box" thing. Do you have an "official" source that can back up your statement?

 

I have heard this from sources other than this forum. It is probably true.

 

http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechc...the-off-switch

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/...vate/20609035/

Not sure if this is exactly what is being referred to here but there you go. I'm not sure if NPR or USA Today counts as on official source though.

 

Believe it! They've been in many vehicles for many years now. Blame it on our litigious society. Manufacturers, like insurance companies, have to try to protect themselves from customer irresponsibility.

I believe the owner's manual is about as "official" as it gets. Check your owner's manual in the index under "Data Recorders."

From the '14 owner's manual:

13-14 Customer Information

Event Data Recorders

This vehicle is equipped with an
event data recorder EDR. The main
purpose of an EDR is to record, in
certain crash or near crash-like
situations, such as an air bag
deployment or hitting a road
obstacle, data that will assist in
understanding how a vehicle’s
systems performed. The EDR is
designed to record data related to
vehicle dynamics and safety
systems for a short period of time,
typically 30 seconds or less. The
EDR in this vehicle is designed to
record such data as:
. How various systems in your
vehicle were operating;
. Whether or not the driver and
passenger safety belts were
buckled/fastened;
. How far (if at all) the driver was
depressing the accelerator and/
or brake pedal; and,
. How fast the vehicle was
traveling.
These data can help provide a
better understanding of the
circumstances in which crashes and
injuries occur. NOTE: EDR data are
recorded by your vehicle only if a
non-trivial crash situation occurs; no
data are recorded by the EDR under
normal driving conditions and no
personal data (e.g., name, gender,
age, and crash location) are
recorded. However, other parties,
such as law enforcement, could
combine the EDR data with the type
of personally identifying data
routinely acquired during a crash
investigation.
To read data recorded by an EDR,
special equipment is required, and
access to the vehicle or the EDR is
needed. In addition to the vehicle
manufacturer, other parties, such as
law enforcement, that have the
special equipment, can read the
information if they have access to
the vehicle or the EDR.
GM will not access this data or
share it with others except: with the
consent of the vehicle owner or,
if the vehicle is leased, with the
consent of the lessee; in response
to an official request by police or
similar government office; as part of
GM's defense of litigation through
the discovery process; or, as
required by law. Data that GM
collects or receives may also be
used for GM research needs or may
be made available to others for
research purposes, where a need is
shown and the data is not tied to a
specific vehicle or vehicle owner.

 

I stand corrected. I should have known better there is spyware everywhere.

 

I wouldn't call it "spyware" in this case. It's self-defense.

People will sue for a manufacturer for any reason. Think about the morons leaving "Cars and Coffee" with AH/TC turned off and endless YouTube videos documenting their idiocy and complete lack of talent.

 

It's the law. FMVSS.

 

The data is there, whether you opt out only determines who sees it. In the event the data is needed to use against you, its still there.

 

The Harris Technical Services list does not show the 2014 corvette as having a Black Box.
http://harristechnical.com/wp-conten...S_CDR_List.pdf
John

 

I wonder how someone can be in the 0 percentile for all drivers and the 44th percentile for Corvette convertible drivers?

 

They are called EDR's, Event Data Recorders. From what I'm reading the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released a ruling in August 2006 (49 CFR Part 563) that created guidelines for EDR's. They did not mandate installation of them by all manufacturers because by that time over 85% of vehicles already had them in them and it was growing rapidly so they didn't feel the need to mandate it. Instead, they created a minimum standard for what they need to record (not maximum). There have been lawmakers wanting to allow for an opt-out on them, but to date that has not occurred. There are states that do restrict who can access the data though.

According to this document, EDR's exist in Corvette's starting in 1997.

If you search EDR in the overall CorvetteForums it's been discussed a few times as well.

I don't think they are used in court in every case, I believe the traditional accident investigation procedures are advanced enough or accidents are clear cut enough that it's not worth the effort to get the data. But it has been used in cases for a while, there's many references to the data being used.