Posted 11/11/2004 05:52:00 PM by Douglas

And now, from a long-time reader that's been in the tin-foil hat club [shiny side out!] a lot longer than I have, comes an article about the black-box that's in your car right now. It can be summed up in one sentence:

"Big brother is riding shotgun"

I'm going to stand by my original assessment and blame the insurance companies. Who else would have the power to pull this off and/or have as much to gain from the technology?

EDRs are certainly not new. Information gathered on black boxes — typically everything from speed, brake pressure, seat belt use and air bag deployment — has already been used in determining guilt in criminal and civil cases across the country.[emphasis added]

Proponents, including the NTSB and road safety advocates, say the data collected on these black boxes is valuable for studying how accidents happen and how to make roads and cars safer. EDR data has been used for years to fine tune air bag efficiency.

Well, duh. Insurance companies want to use this data to prove you were driving recklessly, thus giving them grounds to disavow your claim. But what I don't understand are the legal aspects. I realize this is a poor analogy, but how is this any different from the diary I wrote describing how I committed a crime? The EDR is in my car, I paid for it, right? How could I possibly be compelled to relinquish it if I didn't want to? Doesn't the 5th amendment still protect us from self incrimination?

Then, Haseline said, he would prefer that laws address the issue of a car owner’s knowledge of the EDRs in their vehicles, and that car owners have ownership of the data once its recorded.

"I can understand [NTSB's desire] to have this information, but from a practical perspective, it is premature at this point to require it," he said.

So why do I have to have one in my car to begin with? Why can't I just unplug the damn thing if I want to? I think that's the real issue. Not only do I have to submit to this monitoring, but I have to pay for it, as well.

Labels: EDR