Big Brother May Be Your Co-Pilot

August 19, 2004
If you drive a late model car or truck, chances are that somewhere under the hood is a "black box," much like the ones on airliners that record data and shed light on why crashes occur.

"Black Boxes" • Black Box Rule Ignites Hot Debate • NHTSA: Automakers Must Disclose Black Boxes • Three States Consider Limits on Black Boxes • States Moving to Protect Motorists from Black Boxes • North Dakota Limits Use of Black Boxes By Insurers • Big Brother May Be Your Co-Pilot

Carmakers have been installing them for several years now, though you won't find that information in your owner's manual. It wasn't until the federal government recently proposed standardizing them that it became widely known that black boxes were recording drivers' data.

A proposed new National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) rule would standardize the kinds of information collected by these black boxes, and require carmakers to disclose their existence to people who own or lease the vehicles.

The devices, known as event data recorders, or EDRs, connect to a vehicle's air-bag system and are capable of detecting a variety of information like whether the driver was wearing a seat belt, how fast the vehicle was moving and how the brakes were applied. The NHTSA rule is intended to simply require carmakers to collect the data in one, standard format.

Privacy Concerns

But the disclosure that black boxes have been recording drivers' data has also set off alarm bells. Some consumer groups are expressing concerns that these black boxes represent continued erosion consumers' privacy. In comments filed with NHTSA, the Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center said the black boxes are just another intrusion into our privacy.

"EDRs present serious privacy issues that have been developing incrementally. Just two months ago, NHTSA claimed that it did not intend to require manufacturers to install EDRs. Now, the National Transportation Safety Board has called for mandatory EDR installation following the investigation of the 2003 accident involving an elderly driver that resulted in ten deaths. Requiring EDR installation together with standardizing the EDR data format as detailed in this proposed rulemaking would create a vast government-mandated data collection regime that demands privacy protection. And because EDRs are following the pattern of an incremental privacy risk, it is important to protect drivers' data now before the devices are routinely connected to communications systems that will allow remote access or periodic data transfer," the group said in its comments.

However, other consumer groups, along with medical professionals and the insurance industry have been pushing to make the boxes standard equipment on all vehicles.

The government agency estimates there are currently 30 million black boxes on the road, and that nearly all new 2005 models will have them. Government engineers say they aren't interested in using the black box data to determine who was at fault in a crash, they just want to build safer cars. However, insurance companies and personal-injury law firms might have other ideas.

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