OnStar rolls out Family Link, allows families to track each other

By Salvador Rodriguez

March 29, 2012 12 AM PT

Bad news, kids. The next time you tell mom you’re going to your friend Johnny’s for the night, that better be where you’re going, because she’ll be tracking you.

OnStar plans on launching a new service next month called Family Link that will allow users to track their vehicles as well as receive alerts at specific times, letting them know exactly where they are.

The service is OnStar’s first a la carte service and will be available to the company’s subscribers at an extra $3.99 a month, the company said in a press release.

The company tested the service on a pilot basis but customers wanted it permanently, said OnStar Vice President of Subscriber Services Joanne Finnorn.

“Last year, we had more than 4,500 subscribers test the Family Link service and they told us it provides them peace of mind by staying connected to their family when they’re on the road,” she said in a statement.

The two main features of the service are called Vehicle Locate and Vehicle Location Alert.

Vehicle Locate lets users log onto the Family Link site and see a map that pinpoints their OnStar enabled vehicle at that precise moment using GPS technology. But the feature doesn’t let users see how fast a car is moving or where it is heading.

Vehicle Location Alert lets users set alerts that can be sent by email or text message letting them know where their vehicles are. These alerts can be set for specific times, days or frequencies.

“Family Link is the result of OnStar turning what they imagine into a solution they can use,” Finnorn said.

The service will become available to select subscribers in mid-April. More OnStar customers will receive invites in June, and the service will continue rolling out to all of the company’s U.S. users over the year. OnStar has 6 million users in the U.S., Canada and China.

But Family Link is not the first service of its kind, said Marilyn Prosch, a professor at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State, who pointed out that smartphone apps, GPS devices and other mechanisms already exist that provide similar services.

“I don’t think this technological development is earth-shattering,” Prosch said in an email. “OnStar almost had to do this, or they would miss the market for it.”

And while the service provides features that will be helpful to a person looking for missing child or spouse, it is important that Family Link not be abused, he said.

“Even though the technology is there, it’s all about how you use it. Parents and spouses have to be respectful and evaluate the pros and cons for themselves,” said Prosch, adding that the company may want to add a feature that allows people to temporarily turn off monitoring.

Rebecca Jeschke at the Electronic Frontier Foundation also said potential Family Link subscribers should ask OnStar tough questions about the new service before deciding to sign up.

“This is info that could be potentially accessed through a subpoena in a divorce case or custody battle. Maybe this is info your insurance companies wants,” she said. “If you allow this kind of info to be collected, you need to think about who might see it besides yourself.”

Jeschke said its important to know what kinds of records OnStar will be creating, who will be able to access them and how long they will be kept.

If OnStar, a wholly owned subsidy of GM, faces any backlash for Family Link concerning user privacy, it won’t be the first time.

Last September OnStar tried to make a change to its privacy statement to allow itself to collect data from its subscribers that it could share with other entities, a plan the company quickly abandoned after customers complained.