Federal Regulators Want All Cars to Have Built-in Black Boxes

Big Brother is listening.

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After 2014 you will reconsider getting behind the wheel if you are riding dirty. Federal regulators have proposed legislation that will require mandatory black boxes to be built into every new vehicle sold in the United States.

Some automakers have already started installing black box devices into new vehicles as a safety measure to help authorities better analyze accidents. Automotive black boxes will record for about 30 seconds after an "event" is triggered: Sudden breaking, acceleration, and swerving. During an event the box will be able to record speed, engine throttle, breaking, ignition, safety belt usage, the number of passengers, airbag deployment, and even the location of the vehicle. 

Depending on the model of vehicle, data from events can either be downloaded physically or remotely. According to The Federal Register, the data will be used by auto makers and regulators “primarily for the purpose of post-crash assessment of vehicle safety system performance.”

Regardless of the benefits, the idea of black boxes in cars does not sit well with some individuals.  Lillie Coney, associate director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, discussed the downside to mandated black boxes: 

“You should not think of this as being an opportunity to sell data to auto-insurance companies for risk evaluation. That’s a real possibility. Data is valuable.”

[via Wired]

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