Some further questions I would have (for the forum in general and perhaps Adam - Administrator, in particular) that I would like to pose here:

So, overall, for ANY tracking or electronic assistance for the car, the vehicle has to be on and running and be Tele-aid equipped? Would this also suggest then that one would have to have a current active subscription to Tele-aid for this function to work correctly in mechanical terms (or could the car be tracked even without one having active membership - this is not a question about whether MB would be willing to cooperate without subscription - instead its only a question about if the mechanism would still work whatsoever on MB's part should THEY require it for themselves), say in the case of a police or fire emergency, etc.?

What I'm getting at is this... Can MB track the location of this car at any time (running/key in/membership) notwithstanding if THEY wanted to?

For instance, if one had need to be discrete (a celebrity, witness protection, undercover, unlawful owner or someone looking to evade police or repossession, or even extramarital affairs, etc., etc.), should MB wish to track one of their cars (say if they were subpoenaed), can they do this at their simple will?

Or, do the same technical rules still apply those restrictions (Tele-aid equipped, subscribed, key in, engine on, etc.) in all situations regardless of their interests to overrule these functions?

This is to say that I'm curious as to whether these cars are akin to an airliner's "black box" (or to GM's on-board tracking system used to offset their culpability in the event of a crash) or any other "homing beckon" like devise.

If MB wanted to find my car while it was parked miles away at a wilderness skiing retreat, etc., could they simply start asking computers to pinpoint the location should they have need or interest in doing this? Could this be translated as a compromising of one's personal space and privacy, or, given those aforementioned conditions (car on/key in) would this remain strictly a safety and security mechanism for the owner and no more, no matter what?

In short, does MB have constant access to the location of one's MB (irrespective of anything) at their instant access per their simple desire?

Hope you can follow my question. I will reiterate or clarify if not.

Thanks a mint.

 

Hi I worked at the company back in the 1990s that pioneered live vehicle tracking and it became the technology foundation for On-Star and Tele-Aid.

Here are some answers to your questions (based mostly on history but probably applicable now):

If the vehicle is running the control center should be able to ping the unit to get a location even if it is not requested by the owner. And even if the owner is not an active subscriber (insert lengthy legal conversation here about obligation to track stolen cars when the owner is not a subscriber but I'll pass on this one).

Yes they can track a vehicle if they want to but my guess is that they don't care to as there is no business reason for them to do this.

I would guess they do not have constant access to location information history because storing this much data would be unnecessary and be prohibitive in terms of storage and data collection.

Now, you might consider the application of cellular phone records when investigating a crime but with vehicle location (at least as we developed it and I believe M-B has evolved it over the years) there's no ongoing data storage unless it's initated (if the local police ask them to track the dark blue SL500 license plate XXX444N in Santa Monica because they are watching a possible crime take place) then the vehicle can be tracked and electronic records filed.

No black box function that I am aware of or would think they've implemented over time.

Hope this helps.

 

I've heard a bunch of different theories and "facts" about this question and will be interested to see what other knowledgable members have to say...

 

This is to say then, that as far as you are aware, there is no always accessible homing beckon that can track the location of the car in any configuration (even if they needed to - I cited some possible examples for their interest in doing so in original posting) if the car was not running and Tele-aid was not active? There is no GPS "chip" or "module" which allows them to track location anywhere anytime (even if it were on the moon) at their given desire without Tele-aid active?