Is Big Brother under your hood?

Grand Rapids Press | October 25 2005
By Kyla King

They're not black or even really boxes, but those data recorders inside some vehicles are raising questions about personal privacy.

Should you be told they are in your car? Who gets access to them? How can the information be used? What are your rights?

That's what state Sen. Tony Stamas, R-Midland, wants to figure out. Stamas says he expects to introduce legislation this week that addresses "personal privacy" issues and requires car makers to disclose which models have them.

State Sen. Wayne Kuipers, R-Holland, who is vice chairman of the Transportation Committee, said he shares Stamas' concerns.

"It seems to me to be a real intrusion similar to cameras at all the traffic corners," Kuipers said. "Maybe where we want to end up is people that want them, they should have to ask for it to be placed in the car."

The devices, called event data recorders, are in most 2004 models and 15 percent of cars, according to the Federal Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The devices record information seconds before and during impact, including speed, air-bag deployments, throttle position and brake, seat belt and warning lamp status.

The information could potentially be used for everything from determining why accidents happen to setting insurance rates. To date, there are no national standards, a fact that worries some people who fear the devices could eventually be used to track driving habits or more.

But all the talk of cars "spying on owners," and "Big Brother," frustrates Thomas Kowalick, a North Carolina professor who has written several books on the topic and chaired a committee that developed global standards.

"There's a lot of misinformation and myths," he said. "If you just clap your hands, that sound you're going to hear is the exact amount of time the data is collected."

"It is objective scientific data. It cannot lie, it speaks for the victims and that's why it's a breakthrough."

Kowalick, who supports the NHTSA's efforts to set national standards, said the device could reduce traffic fatalities. According to the National Safety Council, car wrecks cause a death every 12 minutes in the U.S. and a disabling injury every 14 seconds.

Last year, California became the first state to enact legislation requiring car makers to disclose to customers the vehicles that had the devices. At least 15 states have introduced similar legislation.

Although the technology has been used since 1998, manufacturers did not being installing them in the majority of vehicles until 2004. Recent high-profile crashes have draw attention to the devices because police have used the data in investigations.

In September, Kent County Prosecutor William Forsyth charged a Jenison woman after an examination of her car's "black box" showed she was speeding when her car hit and seriously injured a Kent County Road Commission worker patching a highway.

Forsyth said the data is helpful because witnesses are "notoriously bad" on speed estimates.

"You could write a search warrant for it and get it like any other piece of physical evidence," he said. "I would have to confess that the general public probably doesn't know that exists, but I would like to think somebody wouldn't not buy a car because of it."

State Sen. Bill Hardiman, R-Kentwood, said the data recorders could be "instrumental in providing additional safety as far as analysis."

"There are obviously very good uses for it," Hardiman said. "But as technology changes, I think we have to keep privacy of our constituents at the forefront."

Nancy Cain, spokeswoman for AAA Michigan, the state's largest auto insurer, said the company has not taken a position yet.

"We support the privacy of auto owners and we certainly would want disclosure (from manufacturers)," Cain said.

In the end, Kowalick said, it will come down to consumer acceptance.

"If you crash, I think most people, if they do the right thing, you would like to have some evidence," he said. "If you do the wrong thing, you'd like to have some control over that evidence."

Last modified October 25, 2005