Took a quick, very quick, drive up to Ottawa to pick up someone at the airport. Company vehicle that was free to use is a Monte Carlo SS full load with GPS OnStar etc. When I was parked in Ottawa waiting I noticed that the GPS antenna was wrapped with a foil tape.
Asked about it when I got back and was told that the company could track the cars so the guys routinely wrapped the antenna when using the cars during off hours.
Anyone know if this is bullshit or just urban corporate myth?
BTW, car goes like a bat out of hell and doesn't burn nearly the fuel that I'd expect from that kind of a vehicle.

With OnStar they would be able to track the car. A standard GPS wouldn't provide real-time tracking as there is no uplink from the car but OnStar does have the link and is trackable.

Thanks.
Guess that means that the little cover on the antenna stays on.

Just saw a news article on another device that does this. The new SPOT will uplink via sattellite for immediate 911 assistance, location updates for friends/family or tracking via Google. Looks like $149US for the unit and $99/year for service. Pretty smart for back woodsing etc. For tracking it requires the user to trigger the update unlike OnStar which can be done full time in real time but is locked into a vehicle only.

http://www.findmespot.com/

I doubt the foil does SFA. Many companies use real time tracking to monitor what an employee is doing with company property on company time. It is more likely the system uses the GPS to track where the vehicle is at any given time, to be downloaded at a later date.