What's next, ya recon?
Quote:
NHTSA's Requirement: 'Black Box' Recorders in All U.S. Vehicles
We've all heard of 'black box' recorders. They're the indestructible boxes used in airplanes that record a wealth of electronic and audio data to help identify what occurs just prior to a crash.
The U.S. government wants every vehicle made in America to include them as standard equipment.
Event Data Recorders (EDRs), also known as "black boxes" or "sensing and diagnostic modules," capture information, such as the speed of a vehicle and the use of a safety belt, in the event of a collision to help understand how the vehicle’s systems performed. In 2012 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in December 2012 proposed a rule requiring automakers to install EDRs in all light passenger vehicles. It quietly went into effect Sept. 1, 2014. Most car manufacturers currently install these devices in new vehicles.
To date, only 14 states--Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington--have enacted statutes relating to event data recorders and your right to privacy. Among other provisions, these states provide that data collected from a motor vehicle event data recorder may only be downloaded with the consent of the vehicle owner, with certain exceptions.
Does this worry you? Could the information be used against you?
The trouble is that we've got to trust our government to do the right thing and use the information the boxes yield exclusively for the purpose of identifying how a crash occurred.
But to consumer advocates, the data is only the latest example of governments and companies having too much access to private information. Once gathered, they say, the data can be used against car owners, to find fault in accidents or in criminal investigations.
The data can also be used for surveillance; to identify one's whereabouts and travel patterns.
“These cars are equipped with computers that collect massive amounts of data,” said Khaliah Barnes of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a Washington-based consumer group. “Without protections, it can lead to all kinds of abuse.”
What’s more, consumer advocates say, government officials have yet to provide consistent guidelines on how the data should be used.
“There are no clear standards that say, this is a permissible use of the data and this is not,” Ms. Barnes told the NY Times.
Of course, we could trust that government would not invade our privacy if we believed that the National Security Administration never spied on U.S. citizens, international allies and members of Congress. ...Or that the IRS never 'targeted' certain citizens because of their political leanings.
Proof once again that ignorance is bliss.
Read more at http://blog.gasbuddy.com/posts/NHTSA-s-R...eCDj5MUPJVfy.99
Read more at http://blog.gasbuddy.com/posts/NHTSA-s-R...eCDj5MUPJVfy.99
Regards,
hm