Automotive accidents happen when drivers least expect it. If you have ever been in a car accident or have witnessed one, you will see that the time needed to sort out all of the statements can take hours. The concept of the “black box” has been around for many years now and is no new innovation. It was just that not all manufacturers were integrating this piece of technology into their vehicles. But now it may be more likely that every new car that comes off the lot will come with one pre-installed from the factories. In the simplest terms the black box is essentially a data recorder. It records data such as speed, throttle position, whether seats belts were used, and the like.
Having the black boxes in new cars will definitely make settling insurance claims easier. There will be a more definite decision towards who was in the right and who was in the wrong during accidents, with less greyness in between. However, privacy advocators believe that the black box could just be another way to invade our privacy. Sure the primary purpose of having these boxes are to monitor our behavior prior to the accident, but what if there were ulterior motives they were not mentioning. Perhaps the box could even monitor your location such as where you frequently travel to. This tid bit of information may not seem like much, but its enough to get a pattern of the neighborhoods you visit. Also one of the biggest concerns are the limits of the amount of data collected. Could audio also be recorded – your conversations, calls, etc…? Does it stop there, or does the list go on? What if companies could even sell/share your information to other agencies? Its still too early to say but we can see that there are so many possibilities for firms to collect data ABOUT you without your consent.
What do you think about the black box? Do you believe it could do more good than harm? Also what do you think about this type of technology in general. Do you believe advocates of the black box wanted this technology to be implemented nation wide because drivers are inherently untrustworthy when it comes to speaking the truth after an accident (in order to protect their own self interests) ?
Source
http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-advocates-say-car-black-boxes-could-become-a-privacy-nightmare-20130215,0,5120489.story
The issue of privacy should always be at the forefront of every discussion as we move closer towards a digital age where everything is being fed into a global network. I personally feel the black box wouldn’t do anymore harm than what your average smartphone is capable of doing already; which you carry on your body everywhere. I recently read this article, , which pretty much shows how much data can be taken off your cell phone even to the point of finding out everywhere you’ve been; nevermind the built in GPS already in your phone.
Most Russian vehicles have a dashboard cam because of the overwhelming number of people that intentionally cause car accidents or jump in front of vehicles and pretend to be injured to claim insurance or sue. I think a black box for cars would be a good idea.
If we’re truly worried about privacy we should force companies to be more openly transparent with their information and their inner workings.
http://www.aclu.org/blog/technology-and-liberty-criminal-law-reform-immigrants-rights/new-document-sheds-light
This was the article I meant to have in my last post. I seemed to have misused a tag and am not able to edit it now.
These passenger vehicle “black boxes” are likely to be a standard feature in new vehicles as early as 2014. There MANY privacy issues here and legislation will need to be made to draw the fine line of what can be monitored and what cannot. Your car is considered private property, and allowing personal infomation of vehicle parameters to be accessible by outsiders without the car owners consent goes against constitutional rights. In the near future, I feel society will hestitate to purchase 2014 cars and rather buy 2013 models to avoid the “black box”. Although the black box provides advantage in the case of an accident, I feel that is the only info that should be shared. Futher details about whats going on it the vehicle should be recorded on a hard drive (in the vehicle) and should only be shared at the owners consent.
The black box idea has both its ups and downs, in events such as accidents and drunk driving i think the black box is a phenomenal idea, where as if it was to record what happens inside the car at all times such as private and intimate discussions, moments then not at all. As a safety measure I believe the black box is a great idea, this way there can possibly be less fraud when looking into accidents, and it can shut the car off if the driver is not sober, possible even saving hundreds or thousands of lives a year. Again it is controversial but a black box that records the activity of the car would not stop me from buying it, a black box that has a camera pointed inside the car, might.
I am actually surprised that the black-box is getting this much of attention. I personally think more cars companies should incorporate black-boxes into the cars, so as to make driving more safer, but with blackbox’s sole purpose being that of a blackbox, and nothing more. With a black-box installed in your car, you know that if you do something stupid, it will be relayed out later, putting you in trouble, and this way, causing people to be more cautious thereby making the roads safer, and eventually saving more lives.
And as Anthony mentioned in the above comment, the black-box would not be a bigger threat, if not less, than an average smart phone. We have come to a point, where majority of anything we do are via the web; the web knows us, and we know that. We have no problems shooting away our information to some random websites, punching in our credit card information, giving away our addresses, but having a black-box in a car has become a touchy topic because it may invade our privacy is beyond ridiculous.
I agree with what Iragauskas says in his comment regarding the governmental issues with “black boxes.” As we already know through reading “Filter Bubble” company’s have already built online systems to such up as much information about their customers as possible but this is through computer systems and the world wide web. Through “black boxes” manufacturers can install this device with-in a customers car which will contain all the information about who is driving the car and i am pretty sure that there will be a gps system with-in this unit. From this perspective i think that the manufacture may be able to use that information of the places that you have been visiting such as banks, stores, and etc. to sell to external services that may send you different offers because of your previous travels. This is one of the worst scenarios that can come out of this.
I think privacy will always be an issue when it comes to data-collecting technology. There’s no telling to how much information this black box will be able to acquire, probably much more than necessary. However, I do feel that installing a black box in vehicles is a step towards the right direction, as it is a handy tool for analyzing the cause and effects of car crashes. It will incentivize people to become more cautious when driving.