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2015 Corvette Valet Mode Recorder Illegal In Some States
innocent_white_lamb writes: The 2015 Corvette has a Valet Mode that records audio and video when someone other than the owner is driving the car. Activating the Valet Mode allows you to record front-facing video as well as capture audio from within the car so you can help keep your Corvette safe when it's in the hands of others. Well, it turns out that recording audio from within the car may be considered a felony in some states that require notice and consent to individuals that they are being recorded. Now GM is sending notices out to dealerships and customers alerting them to this fact as well as promising a future update to the PDR system.
Isn't the inside of the car is privately owned by the owner of the car?
I'm sorry your Corvette is being cited for child pornography and its distribution....
Can't you just print an EULA in the driver seat fabric? "By driving this car you consent to blablabla..."
I'll record whomever I want while they are inside it. There is no natural law obligation to get consent from someone who is driving *my* car.
HOW...? How does the ability to record stuff keep the vehicle safe? Please explain this... How does this prevent the non-driver from crashing it into a tree?
For owners of this system, do you check the recordings every time after handing your keys to a valet? How many times have you done that until you don't use this feature anymore because "it's all boring anyways"
This feature is useless.
This car monitored for quality assurance.
Put a sticker on the dash: This vehicle records both audio and video of the occupants.
If you put a sign up in ALL your cars stating "Warning, some cars of this model may be have cameras that can recorded you." where the driver may see it, that would probably make it legal.
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
Yeah, this seems like a pretty easy fix. Just a little message on the radio or clear sticker on the instrument panel. Done.
My car is a mobile extension of my home. By accepting my invitation to enter, you are accepting the moral and legal obligations that accompany, viz: you consent to being monitored, you consent to being recorded, and you promise to behave yourself lest the recordings be used against you in a civil or criminal claim.
Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
Just put a sticker on the window, kind of like the "oil change reminders" that says audio and video recording is taking place in the vehicle. I haven't looked at this car specifically, but nearly every late-model car has a display in the instrument cluster or the radio/nav system. Make it turn red with the text "Valet Mode - Audio and Video Recording in Progress" and problem solved. If the valet doesn't want to be subjected to the recording, then he can get back out, tell the driver he'll/she'll have to park the car themselves.
Sometimes the term "illegal" is used to mean "inadmissible as evidence in court." I thought one can record any audio anywhere, they just might not be able to use it in court.
Can someone with legal knowledge of this clarify?
Just put a sticky note on the mirror saying "This car may be internally monitored by video recording," and point it out when you give the car to the valet. That seems to be legal enough for customer service companies.
That is all.
I'll do it anyway and say the same thing that cops say. That cars are visible in public. And that video recording in the public is legal. So by extension, cameras within the car are legal.
In response to the anonymous comment "Isn't the inside of the car is privately owned by the owner of the car?": A number of states have privacy laws or wiretap laws that make it illegal to record a private conversation without the consent of at least some of the participants in the conversation. For example, you may recall that Monica Lewinski's "friend" Linda Tripp faced possible prosecution in Maryland for recording conversations with Lewinski from the privacy of Tripp's own home in Maryland. Some of these laws only apply to intercepting a telephone call, but some apply to any speach even though they are commonly called "wiretap" laws and many could be construed to apply to recording the voice of person who is alone in a car but is speaking to someone on a mobile phone.
I've read some of these laws that are being purported to make audio and/or video recording illegal. While I am sure there are exceptions most of them are written specifically for telephone conversations and extending them to other venues is nothing more than legal trickery. Unfortunately most courts have went along with it or haven't made their disapproval of it nearly harsh enough.
Some state laws require consent, and a warning that you may be video- or sound- recorded may not be adequate. Consent might be implied from a warning label in many cases, but almost certainly not if the person is illiterate or can only read languages not used in the warning.
> For owners of this system, do you check the recordings every time after handing your keys to a valet?
Uh, fucking yes? It's only a few minutes of video to watch. Get your car back with a burned up clutch and sue them for it.
> How does this prevent the non-driver from crashing it into a tree?
It doesn't, it helps you seek compensation when he crashes it into a tree, dumbass. It also acts as a deterrent.
Just follow what other industries do and print in tiny text on the key fob that the operator of said key fob agrees to this that and the other thing. Solved. Next?
This eliminates all such worries this system is designed to prevent.
- For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism.
Did the NSA put up signs informing the people that their use of telephones and the Internet would be recorded, and did they make sure that the people being recorded both understood and consented to those recordings? Oh wait...
When did a car stop being a car and become a computer on wheels? It is just ridiculous what some gullible people fall over for in terms of features.
Ridiculous!
These same laws have been affecting dashcams for years, and that's all that this is - a dashcam you manually turn on for monitoring valets.
Given the massive increase in CCTV installs in places like parking areas, can a valet make a convincing claim that they have an expectation of privacy on the job site?
Log in or piss off.
GM can put a sticker on the dash before shipping. Done. It's up to the driver whether they remove it.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
Valet mode can only be set when car is off. When enabled, as soon as the key is inserted the video starts recording with no audio. The screen flashes with the consent to be recorded message and a consent button to enable audio recording as well as enabling the car to be started. If the valet doesn't press consent, he can not start the car.
Any other method cannot guarantee that the valet was aware of the recording, especially since a different valet may retrieve the vehicle.
At least in Maryland and Illinois the wiretap laws have been ruled unconstitutional. So I would hope that GM's lawyers would first research the issue as they could run into the opposite of what they intend. In this day and age they can be looking at legal action from owners if such a feature is disabled in a state where such laws are unconstitutional. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-03-20/news/chi-supreme-court-eavesdropping-law-20140320_1_illinois-supreme-court-illinois-eavesdropping-act-cook-county-jail
Uh, why?
Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Would something like this on the dash display be obvious enough? "To ensure quality of valet service, this drive may be recorded. To consent to this recording and allow shifting out of PARK, press DOWN then UP on the center console directional control."
Isn't the inside of the car is privately owned by the owner of the car?
By that logic, isn't the inside of your bathroom privately owned by the owner of the apartment building?
...don't give your car to others.
Just what element in society do you think wants it to be a felony to record voice? Could it be businesses or judges taking bribes? Talk about a law that promotes crime! If the TRUTH will set us free, the state will bury the TRUTH.
These laws, even in the states where they are current on the books and have not been specifically struck down, are nonetheless most likely unconstitutional and void anyway.
At most they should have said 'potentially illegal' - branding it as flat-out 'illegal' is an unsupported assertion that is almost certainly incorrect.
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Friends don't let friends enable ecmascript.
All you have to do is hang a small sign on a switch saying- 'You are being recorded'. Simple and now legal. The part that is illegal is not informing someone that you are recording them.
If monitoring is illegal by law, then insurance must be cost prohibitive.
Video is different. You can assume someone is watching you from a distance, even if they can't hear you.
This policy appears discriminatory toward speakers of sign languages.
When did a car stop being a car and become a computer on wheels?
When crash safety statutes, fuel economy statutes, and emissions statutes took effect.
Motor vehicles with manual transmissions still have a parking brake. Or is there some reason that this can't be interlocked?
Okay, I've worked as a valet. I've worked around other valets. Valets are like the police today. "Most of them are doing a good job and a few give them all a bad reputation." With me so far? What car can go anywhere? Your car! When it's being driven by a valet! If you're driving a sports car and parking is a few blocks away those guys are fighting to get to park your car instead of Grandpa's Cadillac next in line. Frankly, it's just too much fun. I'm not saying it's right or anything, but that IS reality.
Now the bigger problem here is that I don't for one second believe that the key is the only place in your car this can be activated from. It's a computer system. The computer checks the keys for instructions. The key does not control the car, the computer does. Tin foil hat time I suppose, but every technology that NSA/police get their hands on seems to end up being used to excess.
Car companies are already monitoring users remember?
Police proposal: We can protect the public by ending high speed chases!
I think I'll pass on in car audio video recording. At least from the factory.
Both parties have to agree to it.
Unless of course it's in public, but then it depends on who it is.
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-...
It's nice the legislators give their preamble about protecting rights, when it's really about protecting themselves.
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
Funny seeing this article as last week I submitted dashcam footage with audio to the boss of a tyre auto service centre where I was getting new tyres (This being in Australia).
I had set the car into valet mode so the cars electronic extras would not automaticly turn on, only the GPS navigator and the dashcam operate.
As soon as the employee got in the car they were playing around with the UHF radio in the car and then touched the dashcam not knowing what it was.
After driving it inside the service area they continued to play around with the radio changing channels and setting different modes.
They left the car on so their slow work performance was recorded doing another car.
Then there is conversation about drug use between employees.
After finally having new tyres and a wheel alignment the old tyres/rims were put in the back seat and the sheet provided was not used so there's all dirt and tyre scuff marks on the seats.
They also forced a tyre into the boot breaking the wooden tyre cover.
Then they did a test run to check the car and instead of doing a small loop they went all over the place and sped 19kmph over the speed limit.
The boss was not happy.
I looked at the footage after noticing right away that the UHF radio had been tampered.
a sticker might be enough.
Solution: dont buy a corvette or any other vehicle with such technology. In fact, the most technically advanced vehicles are 1990's and older vehicles because there is no technology in them the government (or anyone else) spying on your activities, remotely disabling your vehicle, tracking or engaging in any other privacy invading activities. The most advanced cars are the one's most difficult for others to control.
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire