Nextgov

Navigation service OnStar has scrubbed a planned policy that would have kept tabs on drivers after they canceled their subscriptions, amid a backlash from customers and privacy activists.

A recently proposed change to the General Motors subsidiary's terms and conditions stated that starting in December it would continue to collect data from vehicles whose owners dropped the service, unless those individuals opt-out. On Tuesday, OnStar officials scratched the plan and said any future offers to preserve two-way communications will require that customers opt-in with preferences on how their data is to be used.

"We realize that our proposed amendments did not satisfy our subscribers," OnStar President Linda Marshall said in a statement. "This is why we are leaving the decision in our customers' hands. We listened, we responded and we hope to maintain the trust of our more than 6 million customers."

Civil liberties advocates are pressing for stronger limits on the use of GPS-location information in the public and private sectors. This coming Supreme Court term, justices will take up a controversial case filed by the Obama administration that will decide whether government authorities violated a suspect's 4th Amendment rights by slipping a mobile-tracking device onto his Jeep without a warrant.

On Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union and the conservative Heritage Foundation, will host separate events previewing the high court's next session, including the GPS surveillance case.

OnStar's now-scrapped plan to track ex-customers would have allowed the firm to provide them with emergency information about natural disasters and vehicle recalls, OnStar officials said. The data also would have helped the company plan future offerings, they said.