Black Boxes in Cars Raise Privacy Concerns

Did you know that every time you get behind the wheel of your vehicle, there may be a snitch along for the ride?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Friday, December 7, 2012 proposed regulations requiring auto manufacturers to include event data recorders, better known as "black boxes", in all new cars and light trucks beginning September 1, 2014. But the agency is behind the curve. Automakers have been quietly tucking the devices, which automatically record the actions of drivers and the responses of their vehicles in a continuous information loop, into most new cars for years.

When a car is involved in a crash or when its airbags deploy, inputs from the vehicle's sensors during the 5 to 10 seconds before impact are automatically preserved. The device will be able to record such things as how fast the car was traveling and whether the driver applied the brake, was steering erractically or had a seat belt on. The idea is to gather information that can help investigators determine the causes of accidents and lead to safer vehicles. The problem is there are no policies in place to prevent misuse of the information collected. Privacy complaints have not been considered.  

Besides the upcoming proposal to put recorders in all new vehicles, the traffic safety administration is also considering expanding the data requirement to include as many as 30 additional types of data. Some manufacturers are already collecting the information. Part of the concern is the communication to and from vehicles like GPS navigation and On-Star systems which could lead to unintended uses of recorded data. Our vehicles are basically computers so this information can be programmed into the computer so data recorders are not

even needed. There is no opt-out and it is very difficult to disable the recorders. And if it is programmed into the computer, there is no way it can be disabled. 

Data recorded information is showing up in lawsuits, criminal cases and high-profile accidents. When a public official crashed a government-owned vehicle, he said he was not speeding and he was wearing his seat belt. The data recorder told a different story. It showed the car was traveling more than 100 mph and he was not wearing his seat belt.

We all understand the need to build safer cars but does every vehicle on the road need an event data recorder?  Put them in government vehicles and police cars. That should collect more than enough information for the manufacturers to build safer vehicles.

Manufacturer Recalls

Honda is recalling 807,161 2003-2006 Acura MDX, 2003-2004 Honda Odyssey and 2003-2004 Honda Pilot vehicles. Certain of these vehicles' interlocking ignition systems may fail and allow the ignition key to be removed while the vehicle is in drive.

Toyota Safety recalls have plagued Toyota is recent years.  In November, 2012, Toyota recalled 2.77 million vehicles around the world, including the Prius hybrid and Corolla compact car for water pump and steering wheel shaft problems. In October, the company recalled 7.43 million vehicles for faulty power-window switches that can cause fires. Currently Toyota is recalling 150,000 Tacoma midsize pickups because the spare tires can fall from beneath the trucks. The plates holding the spare tire were not treated properly against corrosion and can rust over time.

Toyota is trying to fix its reputation after a series of massive recalls of 14 million vehicles over the last several years, mostly in the US for unintended acceleration involving faulty floor mats, braking or gas pedals. Toyota executives have acknowledged the escalating recalls were partly caused by the company's overly ambitious growth goals.

Hyundai-Kia America is recalling 13,500 2012 Hyundai Veloster vehicles assembled between Nov. 1, 2011 and April 17, 2012 and equipped with panoramic sunroofs. Certain of these roofs my break while the car is in motion.