Black box for your car?
posted August 4th 2004 10:34AM
The National Transportation Safety Board recommended yesterday that all US cars be required to have black boxes like those used in airplanes. Privacy advocates are freaking out because it's not clear who would own the resulting data, but you don't need to be John Gilmore to realize that these things will make it a little harder to argue your way out of a speeding ticket. In any case it's sort of a moot point; the NTSB recommendation came two months after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (which has the actual authority here) said it didn't see a need to require them because automakers were adding them to more models on their own. It looks like black boxes are already coming, required or not, and somebody out there is going to make a mint doing after-market "de-installations" of these things.
Because car insurance companies will require their continued presence as a condition of insurance.
This is really getting out of hand, any air-bag equipped vehicle already has electronics that monitor numerous vehicle functions. This is a function of the vehicles safety systems and not an attempt to spy on us.
The ability to download this information from a vehicle after the fact is a recent development and the media have jumped all over it.
People are assuming that this data will be used to convict them for any infraction or accident. I hate to break it to you folks, but if you are involved in a serious accident, there are other methods used to determine what you were doing prior to, during and after the collision.
That's the line of work I'm involved in and believe me the "Black Box" info is next to useless most of the time and when it is applicable, it is used in conjunction with other evidence and to double check calculations.
The "precedent" set in Quebec earlier this year where a "Black Box" was used to convict a driver focussed on just that. Had anyone gone through the facts they would have realized that there were other methods used to convict the individual. The police didn't just download the information, read it and convict the driver.
Sorry for the rant, but there are other greater concerns for our privacy than "Black Boxes". If all we had to worry about was some electronic safety equipment in our vehicles the war for our privacy would be an easy on indeed.
My 0.02
An external data port on the vehicle to quickly download the data?
Wireless real time transmission of the data?
How about just having a digital display showing your speed?
George Orwell was a %$#@ optimist
It'll take about a week for the first hacks to show up. Then, we can change the data at will. Instant alibi!
Eventually it will be tempting for authorities to require that these "black boxes" snitch on speeders and agressive drivers via a wireless connection automatically.
;)
They'll just get that info out of the little chip they imbed under your skin while you're sleeping so if you see a man in a black suit pointing a "tri-corder" device at you, you should probably run.
We already have these in all new cars, it's called the OBD-II system. Tampering with that in any way is a federal offense. All they need to do is put in these new features as part of that system (would make it super easy to pull the data from the standard port that is already on all cars), and it would automatically be against the law to do anything about it.
They will have a way to track your movement and know your car statistics. There's nothing we can do about it, short of kicking out the current bunch of corporate-fed politicians, and replacing them with guys who won't back this crap.
Hell, they could make it easy enough to check if you were doing 60 in a 25 zone last Tuesday, and when they check, give you a ticket for something you did DAYS AGO.
Remember, if you don't back all of these systems, the terrorists win.
what some people fail to understand is that you don't have an inherent human right to go any speed you want, or drive any way you want on public roads. you are living in a society with other people, and when you get behind the wheel you are taking THEIR lives into your hands. if you had a right to the privacy of your speed, there would not be cops to begin with. society in *general* wants police, because the people clearly cannot police themselves.
do i believe in government interference with the private aspects of your life? absolutely not. they have no right to choose what media you watch, what you prefer, who you have sex with. but they have not only a right but a duty to regulate your speed when you, and your incompetent neighbors, are controlling a multi ton, explosive fuel carrying vehicle.
The right to privacy is essentially a form of the right to dignity, which is the right that guides much of Enlightenment thought. Having the government watching over one's shoulding is insulting to many people. Additionally, (at least in the DC area) speed limits are artificially low. The city of Washington seems to intentionally set up speed cameras on roads frequented by Maryland and Virginia commuters--- people who cannot vote in the city. Governments, when given the chance, are opportunistic and will misuse any power allotted to them: the PATRIOT Act has been used to catch credit card fraud. Airport screeners are allowed to report anything that clearly doesn't threaten the safety of the flight.
When questioning the amount of power we wish to give the government, just remember that it will certainly be misused. If governments were angels, we'd need no Constitutional rights.
There will always be something new on the horizon. Society is changing and a perspective can change depending on how data is used. For instance, It would seem that there will be a new Video Security System released this year. At least there aren't any privacy issues here because Its your data and you can use it however you choose.
http://www.obsusa.com
I've heard a lot of negitivity from scofflaws that have fears of being convicted.The box could also prove that you were driving at a lawful speed and had to break hard.In the event of an accident this information could help to defend you from criminal charges or civil liabilities.