Mandatory Black Boxes In Cars Starting From 2015 Models
A Black Box in Your Car?
April 23, 2012 By Sam Favate Read More: http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2012/04/23/...-car/?mod=e2tw The Bill: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/s1813/text Quote:
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Yet another reason to never buy a new car again.
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Alright people, let us take a deep breath and not feed the troll of a "journalist" that wrote this piece. We are all smarter than that.
1. This bill is a 250,000 word transportation bill. One small section is devoted to mandating event data recorders (EDR). It passed the Senate in March but is dead in the House. So this bill has not passed both houses or made it out of conference committee. It is unknown if this part of the bill will be in the final bill. 2. This section of the bill mandates EDRs in all vehicles starting with 2015 models. Basically all 2015 and newer models will need to be equipped with Onstar or a similar device. Any subscription service such as Onstar would not be required. 3. As you can imagine with Onstar, equipping cars with EDRs is already allowed under title 49 section 563. Many cars already have EDRs for instance all GM cars come equipped with Onstar. They can record data already. 4. The new bill would limit the download of EDR data to court ordered downloads or ones with the owner's permission. Currently there are no provisions to promote privacy for existing EDRs. In fact the new bill specifically states that the data recorded belongs to the vehicle owner and not the manufacturer or anyone else. In essence this bill strengthens privacy rights. 5. Creates a two year trial period after which the DOT will have to go before Congress and outline the costs of the program to manufacturers, privacy concerns and outline any safety increases attributable to the new regulation. The new rule will not sunset but Congress will get an overview of the benefits and costs associated with regards to the mandate. 6. The law mandates that commercially available means of downloading the data has to be made available. Also, every vehicle should state that it comes with an EDR and the EDRs purpose. In other words you should be able to know that you own an EDR and what is being recorded if you want to find out. 7. Reading small, stupid opinion pieces that get all of their facts from conspiracy theorists websites is a poor way to acquire knowledge. Op-ed time: With all that being said, I question the necessity of mandating EDRs in all vehicles. (Which I see as the only legitimate criticism of the section, this bill does not expand the government's ability to spy on you). It seems that the market has done a good job of increasing the use of EDRs in most vehicles. I am not quite sure how EDRs will lead to safer vehicles but I guess I will wait to see the DOT's study. Furthermore, my understanding of Onstar and its ubiquity leads me to believe that the mandate will not put a very large strain on manufacturers so my final opinion is "move along nothing to see here". |
Are these EDRs required to have a wireless data link, or can they come in a version that requires a physical connection to download the data?
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The new rules do not change the way in which data must be presented nor does it require wireless access. Onstar changed its privacy policies to allow more data mining and this is a response to limit the amount that manufacturers may use. Of course it won't actually change usage of subscribers since Onstar gets your permission when you sign up but they will not be able to track you after your trial period. |
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What's important about the bill is that it standardizes what is recorded and how it can be retrieved, rather than the mish mash the private market has produced. Most importantly, it clarifies that the vehicle owner owns the information in the EDR. There has been some lack of clarity on who owns the information up to this point, and as a result a result a few state courts have ruled that law enforcement does not need a warrant to download information from the EDR. This bill clarifies that the vehicle owner owns information in the EDR and therefore law enforcement needs a warrant. The bit in the article about the bill allowing the government is a red herring. Obviously law enforcement can access the information. This strengthens privacy by clarifying that they need a warrant to do so. |
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