A Government Spy In Your New Car! Big Brother And The Black Box

NHTSA gets White House OK to mandate vehicle ‘black boxes’

This could be like having big brother strapped in with a seal belt sitting right next to you in your car as far as privacy goes.Oh, they care about our safety ,so now we all need a spying black box in our car.Give me a break! If they care so much about our safety just build the damn cars better then.

Onecitizenspeaking.com brings up an excellent example about privacy issues: 

Privacy, what privacy?

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers — the trade group representing Detroit’s Big Three automakers, Toyota Motor Corp, and Volkswagen AG — said the government needs to take into account driver privacy. “Event data recorders help our engineers understand how cars perform in the real world but looking forward, we need to make sure we preserve privacy. Automakers do not access EDR data without consumer permission, and any government requirements to install EDRs on all vehicles must include steps to protect consumer privacy,” spokeswoman Gloria Bergquist.

This is not true, automakers do access EDR data whenever the car is in the shop, and sometimes without the consumer’s knowledge. How many people remember General Motors’ OnStar system where the executives swore that the device could not be used to listen to car cabin conversations – only to be faced with a court case proving law enforcement authorities used the OnStar system to listen into in-car conversations as part of a wiretap operation. It appears you can not take the word of auto manufacturers or their lobbyists.

The rule, issued in August 2006, took effect for the 2013 model year that started Sept. 1, standardizes the information EDRs collect and makes retrieving the data easier. Devices must record 15 data elements, including vehicle deceleration, in specific formats. The recorders collect data for the seconds of a crash, including whether the driver is wearing a seatbelt, speed and whether the brakes were applied. <</strong> Source: NHTSA gets White House OK to mandate vehicle ‘black boxes’ | The Detroit News>

They will say whatever BS they have to so this is implemented without a fight.Looks like a done deal already.They swear up and down your privacy is secure.Over time a list of excuses would be drafted for certain cases when it’s OK to retrieve that data.Say when someone has an accident or a is suspected of DWI,carjackings,drug suspicions,hit and run,accused of burglary any number of reasons.Then it would just be any ole damn time they want.I mean the way they tore our constitution apart what makes you think this would be any different.