Privacy Experts Shun Black Boxes
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,132056,00.html
Friday, September 10, 2004
WASHINGTON — Some safety and privacy experts are reacting with apprehension, others with all out condemnation over a recent ruling by the National Transportation Safety Board (search) to require electronic data recorders or "black boxes" in all new cars manufactured in the United States.
Black boxes (search), or "EDRs" have been fitted into every General Motors car in its 2004 line and is in a number of Ford models — about 15 percent of all vehicles on the road today, according to road safety experts.
EDRs are certainly not new. Information gathered on black boxes — typically everything from speed, brake pressure, seat belt use and air bag deployment — has already been used in determining guilt in criminal and civil cases across the country.
The NTSB recommended in early August that black boxes be mandated, but critics say dealers are not now required to alert car owners that their car has the ability to collect the information. Currently only California has a law requiring car dealers to notify buyers when their cars are outfitted with an EDR.
Owners also have no legal protections to keep them from being forced to hand over that information to another party if a court order demanded it.
What I really want to know, is HOW to DISABLE the damn Orwell box!
Not really an issue for me most of the time, I rarely drive any car newer than 1970.
But I might have to drive a rental some time, or some other unexpected circumstance could put me in a new car, at least temporarily.
Hmmm. GM. What have I heard about GM in the news recently?
Oh. Yeah. Their profits have turned to losses, and they seem to be going down the tubes (at least that is what the doomsday-loving media tell us). Yes, I know that the pension liabilities are a big problem, but wouldn'ty it be funny if a bunch of people refused to buy GM cars because of the black boxes?
It's like Rosie O'Donnel and KMart. NRA-types did not bring down KMart, but I am sure their staying away helped KMart into bankruptcy.