If you are an existing OnStar subscriber, or are looking to become one in the future, your privacy may be at risk. An article posted by Jonathan Zdziarski discusses the changes to OnStar’s Privacy Statement, and includes OnStar’s plans to share your information with third-parties, regardless if you are paying for the service. Yes, even if you aren’t a paying customer, OnStar may continue harvesting data from your car and share it with others.

What data does OnStar leave on the table to share? How about your GPS history, vehicle speed or safety belt usage? Although the GPS data is anonymized, if your vehicle is parked in your driveway for 75% of its life, it doesn’t take an expert to determine what physical address it’s linked to.

What’s even more concerning is that your data can be collected and shared, even if you aren’t a paying customer. You must request that your data connection is shutdown to opt out of the collection process. Unfortunately, it appears this process is less than perfect. From Jonathan’s post:

To make matters even more insulting, it was difficult to ensure the data connection was shut down after canceling. I still have no guarantee OnStar did what they were supposed to. I had to request the data connection be shut down repeatedly, after the OnStar rep attempted to leave it on and ignore my requests.

One commenter on the post recommended pulling the fuse to OnStar. For those vehicles without a dedicated fuse:

If you don’t have a dedicated fuse for the On Star radio (ours was 5A and clearly labeled) there are usually guides online for major models that outline where the antenna connection is made to the system. If you are an intrepid owner or have a shop/friend you trust you can disconnect the On Star system from the antenna mast and disable the GPS.

The thought of having to physically disconnect an antenna to ensure OnStar isn’t violating my privacy is outrageous.

According to TmoNews, Cole Brodman, Chief Marketing Officer for T-Mobile USA, stated via a leaked internal memo that “[w]e are not going to get the iPhone 5 this year.” That makes Robert Scoble’s rumor about T-Mobile launching the iPhone 5 on September 25th null and void.

T-Mobile Leaked Internal Memo

TmoNews

Computerworld writes that Metro apps for Windows 8 will only be available via the Windows Store (Microsoft’s version of the App Store), and like Apple, Microsoft will take a 30% cut. From the article:

[…]Microsoft confirmed that the Windows Store — the official name for what executives have referred to as “our Windows app store” — will be the sole distribution channel for Metro apps, those that run in the Metro interface in Windows 8 on Intel-powered devices, and the only ones that will be permitted on ARM-based Windows 8 tablets.

Regarding the app vetting process, which in the past has landed Apple in hot water:

Dworkin also told developers that Microsoft will vet each submission and ensure that Metro apps are malware-free. “We will examine every application that will be submitted to us [and] we will run a virus check and a malware check on every application,” Dworkin said.

This quote paints the process as only checking for malware, unlike Apple who also rejects app submissions based on content such as pornography.

Google has announced the availability of the Google+ API, allowing the integration of Google+ elements into your website or app. If you have been waiting on the official API to create Google+ enhanced products/services, well that wait is over.

Robert Scoble just posted on Google+ that a T-Mobile customer service rep told his friend that T-Mobile “will be the first to get iPhone 5, coming September 25, and that they have been in training for weeks for this.” Below is the full quote, as well as a screen capture:

T-Mobile getting ready for iPhone 5? A friend of mine was just on the phone with one of the customer support reps and he got him to tell him what’s up (very strange, I know, but TMobile employees might not know that’s a no-no). The rep said that the company will be the first to get iPhone 5, coming September 25, and that they have been in training for weeks for this.

Robert Scoble on iPhone 5 on T-Mobile

Edit: Just to clarify, I marked this as a rumor for obvious reasons. Normally I would ignore stories like this, but what peaked my interest was how “they have been in training for weeks for this.”