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Big Brother on Board
OnStar Bugging Your Car
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/12/10/213653.shtml
Would it surprise you to find out that the FBI might be able to monitor private conversations in your car? A recent court case revealed that the FBI used the popular OnStar system to do just that.
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.
"The precedent has been set," stated former Georgia Rep. Bob Barr.
"The grounds on which the 9th Circuit reached the decision were not on the privacy aspects of the case. Under the CALEA [Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act] laws, the FBI blocking of the emergency signal constituted a breach of the consumers’ contract."
The technical problem of blocking the emergency signal is clearly one that the FBI tech teams can overcome. Thus, under the current ruling, the FBI can resume using OnStar to monitor subject vehicles once it has solved the emergency issue.
Open for Abuse
Further analysis of the OnStar design reveals that the FBI may not be the only one listening in. According to my own electronics experts, foreign intelligence services or even technically savvy organized crime groups could invoke the passive OnStar feature.
ALSO..
http://news.com.com/2100-1029_3-5109435.html
http://www.stargeek.com/item/30835.html
OnStar Bugging Your Car
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/12/10/213653.shtml
Would it surprise you to find out that the FBI might be able to monitor private conversations in your car? A recent court case revealed that the FBI used the popular OnStar system to do just that.
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.
"The precedent has been set," stated former Georgia Rep. Bob Barr.
"The grounds on which the 9th Circuit reached the decision were not on the privacy aspects of the case. Under the CALEA [Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act] laws, the FBI blocking of the emergency signal constituted a breach of the consumers’ contract."
The technical problem of blocking the emergency signal is clearly one that the FBI tech teams can overcome. Thus, under the current ruling, the FBI can resume using OnStar to monitor subject vehicles once it has solved the emergency issue.
Open for Abuse
Further analysis of the OnStar design reveals that the FBI may not be the only one listening in. According to my own electronics experts, foreign intelligence services or even technically savvy organized crime groups could invoke the passive OnStar feature.
ALSO..
http://news.com.com/2100-1029_3-5109435.html
http://www.stargeek.com/item/30835.html
