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Lawmakers Try To Block Black Box Technology In Cars, DVR Tracking

Posted by samzenpus on from the will-you-stop-following-me dept.

Lucas123 writes "Lawmakers this week filed bipartisan legislation that would give car owners control over data collected in black box-style recorders that may be required in all models as soon as next year. The move follows a separate proposal made earlier this month that would limit telecommunications companies in tracking viewer activity with new digital video recorders (DVR) technology. The 'Black Box Privacy Protection Act' would give vehicle owners more control over the information collected through a car or motorcycle event data recorders, which the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has proposed be required in all new cars as of 2014. 'For me, this is a basic issue of privacy,' said Rep. Mike Capuano (D-MA). 'Many consumers aren't even aware that this technology is already in most vehicles.' The second, more colorfully titled piece of legislation, is the 'We Are Watching You Act'. The bill was filed in response to reports that national telecommunications companies are exploring technology for DVRs that would record the personal activities of people as they watch television at home in order to target them for marketing and advertising. If implemented, among other things, when the recording device is in use, the words 'WE ARE WATCHING YOU' would appear on the television screen. 'This may sound preposterous, but it is neither a joke nor an exaggeration,' Capuano said. 'These DVRs would essentially observe consumers as they watch television as a way to super-target ads. It is an incredible invasion of privacy.'"

8 of 167 comments (clear)

  1. I wouldn't mind it if... by Todd+Knarr · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Actually I wouldn't mind having a black box in the car recording everything... IF I have access to the data. I've contemplated wiring up cameras and building a small server to continuously record front and rear views, so if there's an accident or something and there's questions about what happened I can pull up the video and say "Here, watch what happened.". Having had friends who've been dinged for rear-ending someone because they got rear-ended and shoved forward, I think it'd be wonderful to be able to pull up the black box record and prove that I was stationary with the engine at idle and the brake fully applied when the collision occurred and could not have been the cause.

    What I object to isn't the black box itself. It's having that black box there and not having any access to it or control over or even knowledge of who's pulling the data from it and when.

    1. Re:I wouldn't mind it if... by ebno-10db · · Score: 5, Informative

      Dashboard cams are very common in Russia. That's why so many people got good shots of the meteorites. Apparently the cams are useful when dealing with some of the local LEO's.

    2. Re:I wouldn't mind it if... by ebno-10db · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If users had write access to the black-box, then trust in it wouldn't exist, thus defeating the point of the black-box itself. You can make-up any data and put it in there, including fake video footage.

      By that reasoning almost all video and photos should not be allowed as evidence. How easy do you think it is to fake video of your car getting hit? Any video or photo is much better than the fabled eyewitness testimony, which has been shown to be incredibly unreliable, even if the witness has no vested interest in the outcome.

    3. Re:I wouldn't mind it if... by mjwx · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Actually I wouldn't mind having a black box in the car recording everything... IF I have access to the data.

      Here's the argument, access vs control. I'm all for black boxes in cars too (I've already installed a dash cam in my car) but I would also require access to the data.

      That being said, I highly doubt that these things will be tamper proof in the slightest (manufacturers will simply pick the cheapest possible way to comply with the law). Black boxes will be easily hacked so it's a bit of moot point for people who are bad drivers and dont want the proof hanging around (however for good drivers, it does help clear them of fault in an accident).

      I've contemplated wiring up cameras and building a small server to continuously record front and rear views, so if there's an accident or something and there's questions about what happened I can pull up the video and say "Here, watch what happened."

      Most cars already have these sensors available through an ODBII interface, you can get bluetooth ODB connectors off Ebay for $15 and a free application called Torque on Android can read it (IIRC, for full logging you need the full application) so if you want a black box it can be set up with a cheap Android tablet and a dash cam. You could probably even use the Android device as a dash cam (although I haven't seen a mobile device with decent enough video quality to replace my 1080p 30 FPS camera). I've got mine hooked up to my phone, great for diagnosing problems and improving my driving style.

      However dash cam and logging devices are double edged swords. Along with proving you're not at fault, they can also prove you did something wrong and many people in my experience dont know when they're doing something wrong.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    4. Re:I wouldn't mind it if... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Who said the issue was space?

      I'd like a 2 minute loop type recorder to ensure my PRIVACY. I see no reason why I would want multiple hours of my driving and find no justification for anyone to have that info from my recorder either.

  2. black boxes by girlintraining · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Yeah, I got a primitive one in my own car. I just opened it up and wired the nvram reset to the ignition. Whenever the car turns off, it fires the reset. It's an amnesiac vehicle now. Of course, not everyone knows how to do this, but hey.

    --
    #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
  3. I purpose an amendment to property law by FuzzNugget · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Instead of making little piss-ant changes that affect only specific and limited circumstances, let's make a strong amendment to property law as a pile driver through all the non-ownership bullshit that's been plaguing us for the past 15-20 years.

    If I am making a purchase as a private person (ie: not a business), whatever I've bought is mine. I own it 100%, it's my goddamn property and I will do whatever I fucking want with it (within written law of course)

    No amount of shrinkwrap, ckickwrap, stick-on contracts, implied or non-negotiated "agreements" can change that. Contracts, usage policies and EULAs in which you had no bargaining or direct input are automatically null and void.

    Any attempt by a manufacturer or producer to actively restrict, limit or deny my access to my own property, whether it be a needlessly fortified mechanism or an encrypted system to which I'm not provided the key, is met with swift punishment. The process for customers to address their grievances should be streamlined and available to the general public with minimal expense to the individual.

    Hey, I can dream of a time when corporations won't be the government's puppet master, can't I?

  4. Angry by TheGoodNamesWereGone · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It really makes me angry that we as a society have tolerated the creep of this surveillance society for so long like frogs in a pot while the temperature rises to boiling. You can argue that technology made it inevitable, and you're right, it's probably too late now to get the genie back in the bottle. No one knows history. Few people have actually read "1984". There should've been laws against this passed two decades ago, but noooo, it was sold to us as security, and people will fall over themselves to trade freedom for that.