A few days ago my mom and I went out for a delicious treat at Sonics (yes, we’re victims of TV’s late-night marketing of those delicious treats). As we went on our way I noticed that the light to my car’s emergency service was on. As you might know, this service, which I signed up for and appreciate, connects me to roadside assistance, stolen vehicle recovery, remote door unlock assistance, and many others. I thought that the light being on was odd and jokingly told me mom that our conversations might be heard. We laughed and hurriedly proceeded to get the yummy treat that heightened our taste buds the night before while reflecting on the fact that we had no such services in our bright orange Gremlin when I was growing up. Yes, we had a Gremlin ;)
But perhaps I laughed too soon. While I have absolutely no proof that the customer service people were listening in on our conversations, which probably would have just made them hungry, the fact that they can listen in on conversations taking place in cars, unbeknown to the occupants, is quite unsettling. As with such services offered in cars these days, the microphone can be activated remotely. While this is great when lives are at stake, it might surprise you to know that the FBI has used this service to eavesdrop on conversations inside of people’s cars during investigations.
If you check, you’ll see that most of these services are used in cooperation with law enforcement and other agencies regarding criminal investigations, so that probably doesn’t surprise you. And I dare say that more often than not, no one is eavesdropping on our car conversations. But the next time you convey some personal information while you’re cruisin’ the highways and byways, you might stop to consider there just might be some invisible occupants along for the ride.
