[Infowarrior] - Highway regulators: Car 'black boxes' can't be secret

[Richard Forno]

Highway regulators: Car 'black boxes' can't be secret

By Reuters
http://news.com.com/Highway+regulators+Car+black+boxes+cant+be+secret/2100-1
1389_3-6108126.html

Story last modified Tue Aug 22 07:09:58 PDT 2006

The government will not require recorders in autos but said on Monday that
carmakers must tell consumers when technology that tracks speed, braking and
other measurements is in the new vehicles they buy.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regulation standardizes
recorder content and sets guidelines for how the information should be
disclosed. It also requires recorders to be more durable.
Watched at the wheel

Privacy experts complained that consumer interests are not fully protected
and that information captured by recorders can be exploited.

Safety experts, consumer groups and insurance companies have long pressed
the agency to mandate recorders in cars, but industry has responded
voluntarily in recent years. About two-thirds of the new vehicles now
produced each year contain the device that is connected to air bag systems.
General Motors equips all its vehicles with recorders, a company spokesman
said.

Regulators sought on Monday to set basic standards for their use, saying
uniform safety data will help make future auto safety regulation more
precise.

Automakers have until Sept. 1, 2010, to comply with the notification and
other requirements in the new regulation, if they choose to equip their
vehicles with recorders.

The rules governing auto recorders, which are similar to the "black boxes"
that store information about mechanical flight systems on commercial
airliners, are intended to give law enforcement, emergency medical
personnel, auto companies and safety regulators a minimum set of mechanical
measurements in the seconds leading up to and during a crash.

Under the new rules, auto recorders must track vehicle speed, acceleration
and deceleration, braking, steering and some air bag functions. In some
cases, data on vehicle roll angle, steering inputs and passenger safety belt
usage will be recorded.

Privacy experts criticized the decision to use the owners' manual to notify
consumers that the vehicle contains a recorder, arguing that many people do
not look at it. They also raised concerns that data could be misused for
legal or insurance purposes.

"They basically punted on the privacy issues," Jay Stanley, a privacy expert
at the American Civil Liberties Union, said of the NHTSA regulation. "This
is a technology that is powerful and rapidly advancing, and we need to bring
our laws up-to-date."

Rae Tyson, a NHTSA spokesman, said the owner's manual is suitable for
notifying consumers and stressed that recorder information is private
property that cannot be downloaded without permission of the vehicle owner.

Tyson said most privacy concerns should be addressed by the courts and
Congress, not by NHTSA.

Story Copyright © 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.