General Motors' OnStar communications feature is a powerful tool. It can give you directions. It can unlock your doors. It can call 911 if the airbag deploys.
And now it can shut down your car via satellite.
Is this a good thing? Let's examine this after the flip.
The AP article starts out so nice and cheery:
DETROIT (AP) — Say some clown steals your car from the parking deck at work. If it's equipped with General Motors' OnStar service, he could be in for a big surprise and you could get a little revenge — and even see your car again.
Starting with about 20 models for 2009, the service will be able to slowly halt a car that is reported stolen, and the radio may even speak up and tell the thief to pull over because police are watching.
But notice the key phrase here: reported stolen. Note also in that AP article that GM can track the whereabouts of an OnStar-equipped car by GPS.
So let's say someone has it in for you: someone who knows the VIN of your car and the exact name on the registration. That kind of data is easy to retrieve. How easy would it be for your nemesis to bring you to a halt in mid-trip? And how long would it take for you to straighten this out with OnStar and get moving again?
For GM this is a utility issue. For me it's a privacy issue. And it makes me apprehensive.
This is how the AP article ends.
OnStar's technology could evolve and perhaps make a stolen car impossible to start, Huber said.
"This isn't the last announcement you'll hear from us in this category," he said.
Swell.