August 21, 2006
 Photo courtesy of pinelife |
CNN is reporting in this article, that regulations have been put in place that require U.S. car manufacturers to inform owners about the presence of sensor suites in vehicles which record context in the moments before a crash: "Some privacy advocates have expressed concern that the data, which can be used as evidence in court cases, is being collected without the knowledge of vehicle owners and drivers. The devices are virtually impossible to disable because their functioning is so tightly integrated with vehicle safety systems such as airbags and anti-lock brakes." I wonder if this solution can actually scale to all the environments in which future recording will take place? How can someone be effectively informed of all the different types of surveillance which are being performed on them? Furthermore, what can someone who objects to the surveillance really do? In this case it is still possible to buy a car without a recorder, but what about where alternatives aren't available? If you don't want to be video-captured when withdrawing cash from an ATM, do you have a choice? Gaetano Borriello has a well-thought out solution to this problem. It requires all surveillance technology to broadcast meta-information about where they are, what they are collecting and the actual information being captured. I can't find a link to his manifesto, but the version I read was pretty compelling. If you are being surveilled you also get to use the surveillance data while you are an object of surveillance. Such a solution would address the concerns associated with the car-recording device by broadcasting its presence on a universal broadcast medium. A concerned individual would be able to verify the existence, properties and accuracy of the car data recorder on their own. They still don't really have a choice about the surveillance, but at least they have knowledge. |
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[News:Gadget] Posted by djp3 at 3:05 PM | Comments (6)
Yes I agree. We may not be able to choose to be under surveillance or not, but I think we should at least be told about it.
Can car manufacturers actually use the black boxes as evidence in court if the owner didn't know about it? I wouldn't think so.. but I am sure with their high priced lawyers they can find a way around it :(
Posted by: How To Change Brake Pads at September 23, 2007 12:47 PMYes, i agree too. Thats a good information for me.
Thanks
I bought a 2004 Mustang GT in 2004, and reading the contract After I bought the car, It stated that the "Black Box" remained the property of Ford Motor Company! Needless to say I did not like that at all.The Black Box is like a "Flight Recorder" with an endless loop digital recording device. Insurance Companies and Authorities can suopena the information it contains and can even use it against you...the owner of the car! Find shops that can disable black boxes here:
www.ieautorepairreview.com
Informative!
Posted by: Max at February 19, 2008 2:50 PMMany people don't realize that this technology called SDM or "sensing and diagnostic modules" have been in cars a long time. For instance GM started putting them in cars in 1974 with the deployment of airbags and for other safety reasons that car manufacturers needed to know to improve their product. In around 1999 - 2000 these SDMs were upgraded to include an event data recorder.
Now having said that, there are two ways to look at this. Is it an invasion of privacy or is it a helpful tool to assist in prosecuting negligent behaviour behind the wheel.
There was an incident where a man in Florida was charged and sentenced 30 years for killing 2 teenagers in another car but was shown to be negligent. In this case I would want the the data used and the person caught but for any lesser incidents I don't think it should be used.
The trick is drawing the line between when to use it and when not to use it.
I know a great car history check tool that people can use in the UK. The car history check tool can be found under car data check at: http://www.aacardatacheck.com/car-data-check/
It is a great tool.
Posted by: franco at January 31, 2007 7:36 AM