Last month, OnStar sent e-mails to customers telling them that effective Dec. 1, their service would change so that data from a customer vehicle would continue to be transmitted to OnStar after service was canceled, unless the customer asked for it to be shut off. The data communication link enables OnStar to collect information about the vehicle, such as speed and location.
The email prompted an outcry from some OnStar subscribers, Democratic senators, and privacy advocates. Senators Christopher Coons (D-Del.) and Al Franken (D.-Minn.) sent a letter to OnStar urging it “to reconsider its decision to continue to track the locations of its customers and potentially sell that information to third parties” even after the customers canceled their subscription.
“OnStar’s actions appear to violate basic principles of privacy and fairness for OnStar’s approximately six million customers—especially for those customers who have already ended their relationships with your company”, the letter said.
In response, the GM unit reversed its decision and decided to only continue the data connection if the former customer asked for it to be maintained. The former customer would also have a say about how that data is treated by OnStar.
“We realize that our proposed amendments did not satisfy our subscribers. This is why we are leaving the decision in our customers’ hands”, said OnStar President Linda Marshall in announcing the policy reversal.