[wayoverontheright]

The FBI and other police agencies have been using these factory-installed tracking systems as a way to eavesdrop on passengers in vehicles, without the folks in the car even knowing the government was listening to their conversations!

This is a little bit sensationalist. I work for GM, am familiar with this technology, NONE of the voice communication takes place over satelite, it is all cellular. Our cell phone conversations have been subject to FBI eavesdropping from the beginning, Barr even seems to be implying that our conversations WITHIN THE CAR, with the OnStar inactivated, can be heard using OnStar, and this is absurd.

The voice communication is completely separate from the GPS function.

[oceanview]

that must be true. how would the FBI activate the microphone in the car? unless the claim is that some "secret backdoor" codes can be sent to the device to activate it.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

If what you say is true, so long as the On-Star program is actively engaged, your location can be triangulated just like a cell phone turned on can do. It's still an invasion of privacy if that is the case.