Your New Car is Spying On You

[Cramulus]

http://rt.com/usa/car-recording-edr-device-429/

Nearly every car being manufactured right now comes with a little added bonus by way of a tiny recording device nestled under the center console. And if you're looking to keep your driving habits under wraps, you might want to start worrying.

As many as 96 percent of the cars mass-produced in 2013 include event data recorders, or EDRs, yet the existence of these small "black box" surveillance devices are rarely known among the automobile drivers whose data is being collected with every quick turn of the steering wheel.

Despite widespread ignorance of the EDRs, though, they could soon become mandatory. The US Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is asking that the installation of EDRs in light passenger vehicles be mandatory starting September 2014, and opponents are already attempting to raise awareness in order to make auto drivers aware that their sudden speed bursts and even seatbelt data is being collected and could be easily shared.

Depending on the type of EDR, these black boxes can record the speed of a vehicle, the crash force at the moment of impact and an array of other information about the automobile's inner workings.

"It really just takes a snapshot of the event," John Giamalvo of Edmunds.com told CBS News.

Other information that can be collected and then shared includes whether or not the car's brake was activated before the crash, the state of the engine and whether the vehicle seat belt was buckled before an incident.

[McGrupp]

Damn. That is disturbing. Bad enough with the license plate trackings.
http://www.aclu.org/alpr

Fortunately, I take the bus....which is owned by the government......and has 20 cameras watching every angle.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

AMERICA: Now with even more Future™!

[Faust]

Within ten years every new car will wirelessly transmit journey data such as your speed at specific times, usage and eventually location, it will also log any cars you pass and tell them that it is passing as well.

[Doktor Howl]

Within ten years every new car will wirelessly transmit journey data such as your speed at specific times, usage and eventually location, it will also log any cars you pass and tell them that it is passing as well.

Within 10 years, cars will probably drive themselves.  Which would be nice.

Dok,
Could read a book on the way to work, like those assholes in civilized places that have rail.

[Doktor Howl]

I am unsure how I feel about black boxes in cars.

We have them in planes, after all.  On the other hand, my driving/offroad activities would cause problems.

Also, I notice they're for light vehicles.  Would that include SUVs?  And why not semis?  If any vehicle needs them, it's 18 wheelers.

[Faust]

Within ten years every new car will wirelessly transmit journey data such as your speed at specific times, usage and eventually location, it will also log any cars you pass and tell them that it is passing as well.

Within 10 years, cars will probably drive themselves.  Which would be nice.

Dok,
Could read a book on the way to work, like those assholes in civilized places that have rail.

Maybe twenty for the self driving car. Google have one but they haven't been very successful at making it work cheaply.

One of my colleagues who went off to BMW was describing the above system and how it was going to be used to reduce road deaths, lower insurance for people who drive safely and make it easier to take dangerous drivers off the road.

The wireless nanny design is finished, they are currently getting tenders from different governments (Ireland was a early adopter) to install check posts and gradually add these to all cars.

personally I hate it, but then again I'm also not a very good driver.

[Cramulus]

yeah, if the google self-driving car takes off (no flying car pun intended), recording your driving data will soon feel like a moot point.

Don't get me wrong, I'd be pissed as hell if I was driving 80 in a 60 and my car was liveblogging it so I just get a ticket in the mail later without a cop ever seeing me.

But I am eagerly anticipating the day when my car drives itself and I can just fuck off and read while I'm sitting in traffic. So go ahead and record my driving speed. As long as it doesn't have a microphone, you can bug my Victrola and VCR while you're at it too.

[Doktor Howl]

Within ten years every new car will wirelessly transmit journey data such as your speed at specific times, usage and eventually location, it will also log any cars you pass and tell them that it is passing as well.

Within 10 years, cars will probably drive themselves.  Which would be nice.

Dok,
Could read a book on the way to work, like those assholes in civilized places that have rail.

Maybe twenty for the self driving car. Google have one but they haven't been very successful at making it work cheaply.

One of my colleagues who went off to BMW was describing the above system and how it was going to be used to reduce road deaths, lower insurance for people who drive safely and make it easier to take dangerous drivers off the road.

The wireless nanny design is finished, they are currently getting tenders from different governments (Ireland was a early adopter) to install check posts and gradually add these to all cars.

personally I hate it, but then again I'm also not a very good driver.

I drive too far, too often.  Work for me is a 96 km round trip.

[Doktor Howl]

And why not semis?  If any vehicle needs them, it's 18 wheelers.

I have thought about it, and this bit makes me hate the idea.

Because it isn't about safety or even forensics, obviously.

[Sita]

Being poor means that I won't have to worry about such things for another 15 years or so.
Our current car is a 2000 model. We were happy to finally have a car from this century. But it still has manual windows, locks and just a plain stereo. At least that's digital.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I actually don't mind certain aspects of this, after consideration, and here's why. Driving is a public activity. It takes place on public roads and poses a very public danger. We like to think of our cars as extensions of our homes, as private little bubbles that we take with us, but in reality, that isn't the way we interact with the world when we're driving. With that in mind, having monitoring devices that will help tell what really happened after an accident, I don't mind at all. I also don't mind cars that communicate with each other in an attempt to avoid accidents.

However, I do not at all like the idea of a tracking device, or one that will tattle on you if you go over the speed limit or pull a Uey in the wrong place.

Our society is going to have to figure out how to find a balance point where privacy is concerned.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Oh, and I think everyone should have dash cams like they do in Russia.

[Left]

I actually don't mind certain aspects of this, after consideration, and here's why. Driving is a public activity. It takes place on public roads and poses a very public danger. We like to think of our cars as extensions of our homes, as private little bubbles that we take with us, but in reality, that isn't the way we interact with the world when we're driving. With that in mind, having monitoring devices that will help tell what really happened after an accident, I don't mind at all. I also don't mind cars that communicate with each other in an attempt to avoid accidents.

However, I do not at all like the idea of a tracking device, or one that will tattle on you if you go over the speed limit or pull a Uey in the wrong place.

Our society is going to have to figure out how to find a balance point where privacy is concerned.

Oh, and I think everyone should have dash cams like they do in Russia.

I want car cameras.
Back in '97 this guy clocked my station wagon while attempting to run a red light.
I had a guy behind me who was nice enough to tell the insurance company that I did indeed have the green light.

As far as that goes, we already have all the tracking we need in our cellphones.  Cellphone data gets used in trials, so there you go.

Look, If I ever have a chance to own a car that can do 180...I want to.  Not around other people, but dammit!
It is just too fun to take a turn at twice the speed it's rated for!!!

[P3nT4gR4m]

yeah, if the google self-driving car takes off (no flying car pun intended), recording your driving data will soon feel like a moot point.

Don't get me wrong, I'd be pissed as hell if I was driving 80 in a 60 and my car was liveblogging it so I just get a ticket in the mail later without a cop ever seeing me.

But I am eagerly anticipating the day when my car drives itself and I can just fuck off and read while I'm sitting in traffic. So go ahead and record my driving speed. As long as it doesn't have a microphone, you can bug my Victrola and VCR while you're at it too.

You don't have Speed Cameras in America, then? You lucky bastards