NSA Can ‘Collect-it-All.’ But Then What? - Yahoo News At what point do they just mail you a fine/fee for breaking a rule or law...or just crash in your door and drag you away. I was listening to the radio today (Bob Rivers) and they were discussing all the cameras everywhere in our society.... and how you will just get a fine at some point in the not so distant future for every little rule you break, because you will be under the continuous gaze of big brother. There are so many laws that it is almost to the point that you can be cited for "something" almost everyday. What happens when the insurance company is jacked into your car and sends you an extra bill each month for every mile over the speed limit you go. When is it to much, when has your right to privacy been violated..... I suggest we have passed far beyond that line in the sand.
Does anyone here have those insurance things that plug into their car?? I'd love to know what you were told about them. I asked, and was told (by an agent), that you plug them in - but are not to unplug them until they tell you that you can do so. That they gather boatloads of information about your driving habits. Currently; the agencies are only supposed to collect certain things, but their capabilities are more. He highly recommended that I did not get it. That the savings weren't quite worth the invasion. I assured him I had no intention of getting it, but that my curiosity made me ask.
I have had one before. It is supposed to be randomized info with no personal info allowed at all. It is to see the populations driving habits as a whole, and there are waivers that state that it CAN NOT be used in any way against you. My wife signed us up for it twice (IIRC) and it plugs into the port beneath the steering column, and stays there for 3 or 6 months. Then gets mailed in. The envelopes have no personal markings, and they state they collect none. It knocked maybe $100. Off my insurance bill to participate. I would not have done so on general principle, but it was already installed by the time I knew of it. (Her car only).
Let's see...it has GPS, check! They absolutely know exactly who sends each one in. And it will be used against you and every other insured driver. If there was ever an invention I wish I had been around to be the first to dream up it would be 'insurance'. What a racket! Al Capone had nuthin' on the real racketeers.
It doesn't have GPS. It gathers the same type of info your computer gives your mechanic every time it is hooked up to a diagnostic machine. It looks at things like miles. Rpms, emission controls (I think). It looks at HOW you drive, not WHERE you drive.
My boss was talking about these the other day. He said they really track your speed. You will get penalized if you go 80.
The boss is a trucker? Big rigs do have GPS for that reason. Unlikely they would use a cell or other personal device for the purpose, and if they are installed in a car at the factory, who is monitoring them for any purpose?
In the logistics tracking system they use the truckers GPS either rig mounted or their cell phone to track high value loads. This is required by most shippers of these type of loads nationally They can also be used as Ghrit said to track average miles per day (speed) as well as identify issues with routing. My daughter pushes freight for a "large" national outfit and I have to put up with her chewing out a dispatcher on the weekends or evenings, because she can see that a truck is loitering somewhere rather than moving down the road..... She gets mad when the truckers stop answering her phone calls...... it is funny to watch for about 5 minutes... and then it is time for me to go elsewhere..
This is EXACTLY why I will NEVER OWN a Vehicle with OnStar, or any similar Device Installed. I would suggest that anyone who does, should Cut the Antenna Connection, at the BlackBox, to disable the Comms Function. No Cellular Comms, No Tracking, or Remote Operation of your vehicle, from the outside, Period....Big Brother doesn't need to Control My Vehicles..... .... YMMV.....