Expect Mandatory 'Big Brother' Black Boxes In All New Cars From 2015

New submitter Kraftwerk writes "A bill already passed by the Senate and set to be rubber stamped by the House would make it mandatory for all new cars in the United States to be fitted with black box data recorders from 2015 onwards. Section 31406 of Senate Bill 1813 (known as MAP-21), calls for 'Mandatory Event Data Recorders' to be installed in all new automobiles and legislates for civil penalties to be imposed against individuals for failing to do so. 'Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall revise part 563 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, to require, beginning with model year 2015, that new passenger motor vehicles sold in the United States be equipped with an event data recorder that meets the requirements under that part,' states the bill."

Comments

Big Brother?

[PeanutButterBreath]

(b) Limitations on Information Retrieval-

(1) OWNERSHIP OF DATA- Any data in an event data recorder required under part 563 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, regardless of when the passenger motor vehicle in which it is installed was manufactured, is the property of the owner, or in the case of a leased vehicle, the lessee of the passenger motor vehicle in which the data recorder is installed.

(2) PRIVACY- Data recorded or transmitted by such a data recorder may not be retrieved by a person other than the owner or lessee of the motor vehicle in which the recorder is installed unless--

(A) a court authorizes retrieval of the information in furtherance of a legal proceeding;

(B) the owner or lessee consents to the retrieval of the information for any purpose, including the purpose of diagnosing, servicing, or repairing the motor vehicle;

(C) the information is retrieved pursuant to an investigation or inspection authorized under section 1131(a) or 30166 of title 49, United States Code, and the personally identifiable information of the owner, lessee, or driver of the vehicle and the vehicle identification number is not disclosed in connection with the retrieved information; or

(D) the information is retrieved for the purpose of determining the need for, or facilitating, emergency medical response in response to a motor vehicle crash.

Big deal.

Here's what it records

[djdanlib]

This Black Box is similar to stuff that's already IN your car, and airplanes, etc. Here is the legislature that will be revised to *require* the devices, so you can look at the details of what's being required.

http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=adfa70d7fb0603db957cef53e728148f&rgn=div5&view=text&node=49:6.1.2.3.31&idno=49

Particularly, check the latter sections. "Each vehicle equipped with an EDR must meet the requirements specified in 563.7 for data elements, 563.8 for data format, 563.9 for data capture, 563.10 for crash test performance and survivability, and 563.11 for information in owner's manual."

Your Car Likely Has A Black Box ALREADY

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

"Virtually every car that has an air bag has some kind of recording ability," says James Casassa, of Wolf Forensics which specializes in downloading crash information from vehicles made by GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota and Honda. The recorders capture information about how fast you were going and whether you slammed on the brakes in the seconds before and after a crash. They capture just a snapshot before and after a crash, not a continual record of your driving activity -- which would be far more concerning for privacy. (But don't worry! You can get a far more invasive event recorder from your insurance company if you're looking to lower your car insurance rates.)

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/04/19/hate-to-break-it-to-you-but-your-car-likely-has-a-black-box-spying-on-you-already/

Re:Your Car Likely Has A Black Box ALREADY

[Anonymous Coward]

The bill references Title 49 part 563 of the US Code of Federal Regulations, which you can find here.

http://www.harristechnical.com/downloads/49CFR563.pdf

No GPS position. Speed, throttle, steering, seatbelt use, airbag deployment, etc. etc. are there.

Re:Just a recorder...

[Anonymous Coward]

Define speeding.

On most (translation: ALL) roads in the US, the typical speed of traffic is higher than the posted limit. In fact, driving the limit, some claim, causes more accidents than going with the flow of traffic.

Good point. In Michigan, there is an 85\15 rule. After studying traffic flow, if it is found that 85% of the cars were going over the posted speed limit, then that community has to up the speed limit.