Buick Enclave Privacy
© 2008 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.

OnStar knows where you are. enlarge.

16 September 2008     Top of Enclave Review     More Car Reviews

I have to laugh that GM includes so much about privacy in the owner's manual. Let me mention some things, since GM finds your privacy so important to mention it in the users manual.

Flight Recorder

The Enclave has a "black box" flight recorder to log what was happening for 30 seconds before you crash.

GM, law enforcement and God knows who else can read these codes, and will know if you were speeding or doing something stupid just before you crashed.

When someone gets killed, there is almost always an investigation. If you were doing something stupid, like speeding, I expect that the police and your insurance company will have proof. Did you hit the gas to try to make it through an intersection on a yellow light and hit someone as it turned red? Did you roll through a stop sign? You're busted!

This is great for good drivers because this data ultimately helps bust the morons. Everyone benefits as we can learn more about what causes accidents so we can prevent them, and this will help put the bad drivers in jail when there are no human witnesses.

If you're an idiot, drive a different car without a flight recorder. Many GM and other cars have them, but you won't hear salespeople talking about them. Read your owners' manual. It's on page 7-15 of the 2009 Enclave Owner's Manual. GM calls it the EDR, Event Data Recorder.

OnStar Monitoring       top

OnStar knows who you are, where you are, how fast you're going, and where you're going.

If anyone cares, I presume it's also simple for OnStar to listen in on whatever's going on inside the Enclave.

God only knows what can be done with this information. You don't have to have the Enclave turned on; OnStar is on 24/7.

The uses of this information are unlimited. For instance, GM could figure out if you're having your Enclave serviced at an unauthorized repair facility or shopping for an RX350 by cross-referencing the location of these places.

OnStar Remote Vehicle Immobilization       top

Just as Onstar can unlock your doors, OnStar also can reduce your vehicle's performance to reduce its ability to drive very far.

OnStar, working with the police, can slow down your car so the police can get it more easily if stolen.

If you're a criminal and the right people with the right legal information want to get you in your own car, OnStar can do the same. This is hidden in section 18 in the OnStar Users' Agreement under "What if your car is stolen?" Read it; it's right in your glove box in the OnStar package.

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