Toyota to make its version of onstar
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 6,165
From: Sterling Heights, MI
Re: Toyota to make its version of onstar
Wonder if Toyota will get the "spying-on-me" flak that GM gets about OnStar, or if the press will immediately dub it a "revolutionary" feature that is automatically better than GM's. 
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Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 1,579
From: The Land of Pleasant Living
Re: Toyota to make its version of onstar
Originally Posted by Z28Wilson
Wonder if Toyota will get the "spying-on-me" flak that GM gets about OnStar, or if the press will immediately dub it a "revolutionary" feature that is automatically better than GM's.
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 3,604
From: Milton, FL
Re: Toyota to make its version of onstar
Originally Posted by Z28Wilson
Wonder if Toyota will get the "spying-on-me" flak that GM gets about OnStar, or if the press will immediately dub it a "revolutionary" feature that is automatically better than GM's.
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 3,604
From: Milton, FL
Re: Toyota to make its version of onstar
Originally Posted by Z28Wilson
Link? I'm curious.
FBI FINDS NEW WAY TO SPY ON CITIZENS
CHARLES R. SMITH, NEWSMAX - GM cars equipped with Onstar are supposed to be the leading edge of safety and technology. Onstar has run a recent blitz of commercials citing helpless motorists calling in with every type of emergency, from a heart attack to locking the keys inside the car. In the advertising world, Onstar reacts quickly by sending help or even unlocking the car. However, buried deep inside the Onstar system is a feature few suspected - the ability to eavesdrop on unsuspecting motorists.
The FBI found out about this passive listening feature and promptly served Onstar with a court order forcing the company to give it access. The court order the FBI gave Onstar was not something out of the Patriot Act involving international terrorism or national security but a simple criminal case.According to court records, Onstar complied with the order but filed a protest lawsuit against the FBI.Yet the FBI was able to enforce the original legal order and completed its surveillance because Onstar's lawsuit took nearly two years to pass through the court system.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled in Onstar's favor. The ruling was not based on invasion-of-privacy grounds or some other legitimate constitutional basis. The FBI lost because the Onstar passive listening feature disables the emergency signal, the very life-saving call for help that the advertisements tout as the main reason to purchase the system.
CHARLES R. SMITH, NEWSMAX - GM cars equipped with Onstar are supposed to be the leading edge of safety and technology. Onstar has run a recent blitz of commercials citing helpless motorists calling in with every type of emergency, from a heart attack to locking the keys inside the car. In the advertising world, Onstar reacts quickly by sending help or even unlocking the car. However, buried deep inside the Onstar system is a feature few suspected - the ability to eavesdrop on unsuspecting motorists.
The FBI found out about this passive listening feature and promptly served Onstar with a court order forcing the company to give it access. The court order the FBI gave Onstar was not something out of the Patriot Act involving international terrorism or national security but a simple criminal case.According to court records, Onstar complied with the order but filed a protest lawsuit against the FBI.Yet the FBI was able to enforce the original legal order and completed its surveillance because Onstar's lawsuit took nearly two years to pass through the court system.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled in Onstar's favor. The ruling was not based on invasion-of-privacy grounds or some other legitimate constitutional basis. The FBI lost because the Onstar passive listening feature disables the emergency signal, the very life-saving call for help that the advertisements tout as the main reason to purchase the system.
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 3,604
From: Milton, FL
Re: Toyota to make its version of onstar
here's a really good writeup including links to the actual court rulings
http://www.subliminalnews.com/archives/000119.php
http://www.subliminalnews.com/archives/000119.php
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 6,165
From: Sterling Heights, MI
Re: Toyota to make its version of onstar
It's scary that the FBI has the ability to tap into OnStar like that, but this is a court matter. It isn't like GM went to the FBI and said "here guys, spy on our customers!"
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 3,604
From: Milton, FL
Re: Toyota to make its version of onstar
Originally Posted by Z28Wilson
It's scary that the FBI has the ability to tap into OnStar like that, but this is a court matter. It isn't like GM went to the FBI and said "here guys, spy on our customers!"
Originally Posted by SMUJeremy
Yeah, but I am not doing/selling drugs or anything that the FBI would care about, so why do I care if they spy on me or not?
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Joined: May 2004
Posts: 2,043
From: Shelbyville, IN
Re: Toyota to make its version of onstar
Yeah, I could not give two craps and a poop if the FBI was watching over me with Onstar. What r they gonna see where I play golf and take my kids to play?! heh Only ppl that have to worry about that are people that have something to hide. Sure they're gonna yell it's "AGAINST OUR RIGHTS". SO WHAT! I guess it's against my rights to have laws that tell me what to do then isn't it??? Most of these "activists" are pot smoking dopeheads anyhow... lol
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Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 2,947
From: Springfield,OH. U.S.A.
Re: Toyota to make its version of onstar
Yeah, I could not give two craps and a poop if the FBI was watching over me with Onstar. What r they gonna see where I play golf and take my kids to play?! heh Only ppl that have to worry about that are people that have something to hide. Sure they're gonna yell it's "AGAINST OUR RIGHTS". SO WHAT! I guess it's against my rights to have laws that tell me what to do then isn't it??? Most of these "activists" are pot smoking dopeheads anyhow... lol
And then you'll give up your right to due process....
One man was already prosecuted for "SAYING" something negative about the Pres over the CB radio.
What we need IS, LESS LAWS, punish offenders, don't create New Laws to further restrict the freedoms of the innocent majority.
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Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 1,873
From: South Jersey
Re: Toyota to make its version of onstar
Originally Posted by SCNGENNFTHGEN
Naturally, it will be light years ahead of GM's Old Tech. OnStar!
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Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 2,947
From: Springfield,OH. U.S.A.
Re: Toyota to make its version of onstar
The Toyota system is supposed to use overhead cameras, while the GM system will stick with pushrods
Last edited by 90rocz; Apr 21, 2005 at 05:07 PM.