LoJack To Release Tracking Devices For Consumers, Insurance, and Auto Makers

Lucas123 writes "Next year, LoJack plans to come out with a telematics system that will allow parents to track their children's cars, auto makers to record vehicle diagnostics and insurance companies to review driving habits as the basis of rate quotes. LoJack said the wireless tracking systems will likely come in several forms, including a OBD II plug-in dongle as well as a factory installable model. The company said it has no plans to sell any information collected through a cloud service connected to the devices, but to only share it with stakeholders — either vehicle owners or businesses that have been given the OK to collect and use the data. Additional features will include the ability for parents to set up geo fences to restrict where their children can drive before alerts can sent as well as the ability to restrict and texting while the vehicle is being operated."

Comments

Hahaha

[Anonymous Coward]

The company said it has no plans to sell any information collected through a cloud service connected to the devices

And you'd be an idiot to think they won't silently change this in an EULA update.

Re:Hahaha

[Jane Q. Public]

"And you'd be an idiot to think they won't silently change this in an EULA update."

You'd be an idiot to agree to this at all. But you make a good point:

This pervasive surveillance did not come about by accident. It came about by consumers (and others) agreeing to a little bit here, and a little bit there, because "it will never be used THAT way..." And of course, eventually it IS used exactly that way.

Consumers -- and citizens in general -- MUST get it through their heads that if they give away to somebody the ability to do something, including things that have the potential to steal away their privacy, eventually it will be used in just that way. History is full of such lessons.

Just don't give it to them in the first place! The potential good is far outweighed by the potential harm. As Lyndon Johnson (not one of my favorite people) said about this kind of thing: "You do not examine legislation in the light of the benefits it will convey if properly administered, but in the light of the wrongs it would do and the harms it would cause if improperly administered."

This is true, not just of legislation, but of technology too. There are some ways it should not be used. If you let it, the consequences will be bad. It's that simple.

Re:Hahaha

[Mitreya]

The company said it has no plans to sell any information collected through a cloud service connected to the devices

And you'd be an idiot to think they won't silently change this in an EULA update.

They don't have to!
There currently are "no plans", mostly because they first need to collect the data before they can properly price it.

It would also be able to restrict talking or texting on a smartphone while a vehicle is in operation.

Ok, that is just creepy. How about extending that to forced ads?
"Watch this commercial and you can talk on your phone for the next two days while you are driving"

Re:Hahaha

[amiga3D]

Soon enough we'll have a government mandate for this anyway. Think of how safe we'll be from the terrorists.

Re:Hahaha

[GIL_Dude]

If it was designed properly, they would not HAVE any information to sell (or leak when hacked). If, for example, I bought such a device for my kid's car, I would expect that the information it sends (including any unique identifier like a serial number in the equipment) is sent encrypted by my public key to the cloud service along with an unencrypted number representing ME (so that it can route to me in their system). I would have an application on my computer, tablet, etc. into which I could put my private key / certificate. It would download the encrypted information and decrypt it locally. Anything less - nope! No sale. If they are able to do alerts and geo fencing - it is clear that they get the information on location unecrypted and can access it. I would not want to get such a system...

I don't get it.

[teebob21]

Why is this news? Is it just the consumer commoditization of what businesses have been doing for years? Vehicles + GPS + Web Interface = Big Brother? Whoopee.

I've been supporting deployments of vehicle GPS, geofences, and automatic alerts for years. Maybe that why this article is so underwhelming.

Also, it reads like an advertisement.

Re:I don't get it.

[aardvarkjoe]

Also, it reads like an advertisement.

Not true. Advertisers typically proofread their text for blatant mistakes before publishing it.

Re:I don't get it.

[FlyHelicopters]

It does read like an advertisement, but it is one that, as a parent, I want to read.

I fully want this in the cars my kids drive in a few years. I recall very well my driving habits when I was 16, and they were terrible.

If my kids don't want this, they can buy their own cars and pay their own insurance. If they want to drive my cars... well... :)

Welcome to Daddy, "a.k.a. Big Brother". :)

Re:I don't get it.

[bob_super]

My boss tracking where I go with company-provided assets makes sense.

Everybody's every move being tracked in the name of lower premiums or children safety is downright scary.

Re:I don't get it.

[noh8rz10]

there's no need to track your childrens' cars, as the summary says. children shouldn't have cars, they're too young. case closed.

Re:I don't get it.

[mythosaz]

I've taught my daughter to be responsible.

...that doesn't mean I shouldn't be notified if she's had a lapse in that responsibility.

Kids should break a few rules. That's part of growing up. Getting alerted on it and going all batshit crazy about it are two different things. I'll respond appropriately when my kid sneaks her first beer or stays out past curfew or pretends her friends parents are home when she stays the night somewhere. Now that I'm an old man, I know I didn't get nearly as much past my parents as I thought I did. :)

Don't forget the NSA.

[Anonymous Coward]

If there is data about you that is getting collected, the spooks are also going to get a copy.

Fuck off

[Meditato]

I co-founded a company that does this, and we have a number of competitors in the same space. Tons of people and companies do this.

Do we get free Slashdot advertising too? No? Stop posting this shit and start posting news.

What's It Called?

[Anne_Nonymous]

>> LoJack To Release Tracking Devices For Consumers, Insurance, and Auto Makers

What's it called, a "cell phone"?

What happend to OnStar?

[bobbied]

Now I'm not sure how this is different from "On Star" but it sure seems to be *exactly* the same kind of thing they've been doing for a decade. Tie some cell phone to a computer and a GPS receiver attached to the communications buss in the car and there is a load of things you can do. Problem with LoJack is that if they are forced to go though the ODB-2 connector, they will have limited access to your car to do what they've done in the past that brought them to almost a household name. You might be able to shut down an engine through the OBD-2 connector, but that's likely going to require manufacturer specific software and possibly custom hardware to make happen.

Where I get why a manufacturer might want to offer a system like this, I really don't see a huge market for it. OnStar never really took off as a money maker even on the GM cars it was offered with. The effort to push OnStar as an after market add in to your car option has been less than stellar. Keeping up with your teens as they drive around is NOT hard using their smart phone, and you need to add the "don't text when moving" app anyway so load a tracking app too.

Now I don't have a kid who is trying to hide things from me in the first place, so she's not out turning off her phone or unloading the tracking app. She's a really cautious driver (actually too cautious at times) so I don't worry that she's out racing my car, but if I did, there are inexpensive ODB-2 recorders out there which are readily available and cheap, plus the sector of taking the keys away, at least while they live under my roof and drive my cars. Your mileage may vary, but I think LoJack is gona loose their shirt on this one.

I'm going to have to build..

[TechyImmigrant]

I'm going to have to build an OBD ii dongle to site between the dongle and the car, projecting and image of a perfect driver. It'll sell like hotcakes.

No plans to sell any information? Huh?

[GumphMaster]

The company said it has no plans to sell any information collected through a cloud service connected to the devices, but to only share it with stakeholders

They are not going to do this for the insurance companies out of the goodness of their hearts. So the stated business model is do precisely what they claim not to do, selling information gathered this way to "stakeholders."

Governments, police forces and the NSA are stakeholders too (whether or not LoJack want them to be). How long before the location data is married to traffic light changes resulting in infringements issued on the basis that your car passed a red light: no camera deployments required and no defence. Or speed information and speeding infringements... Or proximity to an unrelated crime... Or the location of political opponents... Or journalists... Or whistleblowers... Ubiquitous tracking will be abused.