@MikeInNH: You can make data safe. If you want to encrypt your personal data and communications, “TruCrypt” and “Pretty Good Privacy” come to mind for free, and I would trust them more than Microsoft’s “Bit Locker” But eventually all systems fall and there are determined people out there. If the hacker community applied their expertise and resources to the problem, I have little doubt that OnStar’s protocols could be cracked fairly quickly. But a lot of the people that do this do it for “fun” and have high ethics. They would probably report the problem to GM and only make the information public if ignored by GM.
While the FBI may have hung on to the laptop you mention for two years, I doubt they’ve had a crack team of cryptographers and supercomputers working around the clock to break the encryption on it for this time. Maybe if it was a terrorism case, but for something like a pedophile case, while disgusting, you reach the point of diminishing returns for resources and their efforts are likely better spent elsewhere. Typically they would just lock the person up for failing to cooperate and provide their passwords or private keys, and justice would still be served.
Back in 2001, when I bought my '02 Outback with Electronic Stability Control, there were people (including some in this forum) who warned me that “this is just one more thing to go wrong with the car”, and to avoid new-fangled devices such as this. Well, in the 10 years that I owned the car, the only thing that ever had to be repaired was the purge valve in the evaporative emissions system, and that was replaced under warranty. The only other reason why the car ever entered a shop during those 10 years was for routine scheduled maintenance.
The Electronic Stability Control system never malfunctioned, nor did the ABS, nor did the Traction Control, nor did the power seats, power windows, electric sunroof, self-dimming mirror, automatic climate control, or any other modern “gadget” with which the car was equipped. Yes, in theory, these “gadgets” are just more things that can malfunction, but in practice, I have not experienced any problems with these modern devices.
It should be remembered that, when Chrysler introduced higher-compression engines, back in the '30s, many folks warned that these engines “would burn up” prematurely. And, the advent of 4-wheel hydraulic brakes on Chryslers and some other cars was claimed to be dangerous because they would cause cars to stop “too fast” (??).
There will always be Luddites (look it up if you aren’t familiar with the terminology) who claim that every technological advance is just one more potential problem. In general, I think that some people are just fearful of change.