Posted on 12/07/2012 7:40:36 PM PST by Jyotishi
It's looking very likely that a bill in Congress that will make mandatory the use of "black boxes"— more formally, Event Data Recorders (EDR) — will become law soon. These are little computers clad in rugged casings that record data from your car's various sensors and computers to use for accident investigation and, very likely, other uses.
There's lots of privacy concerns around this new bill, and lots of questions as to exactly what that little boxy black snitch is snooping on. Plus, what about the voluntary black boxes some insurance carriers are offering? Let's see what we can clear up.
(Excerpt) Read more at jalopnik.com ...
I read the article, but can’t understand - why would any congressman vote for this? What’s in it for them?
>>”Such as getting ot the point where you get pulled over, a cop plugs into your EDR and downloads the data and then traffic tickets are written based on the data.”
Or gather it through a wireless connection without your knowledge.
I actually still possess an SS card that says “Not to be used for Identification” on it. A quaint relic from a more sane era.
POWER!
It would be insanity if these black boxes would record your speed and the GPS coordinates for that speed. Then the traffic cop plugs in and for every location you went over the speed limit, you get fined. Perhaps if there were enough incidences of speed violations, the cop could summarily execute you on the spot and confiscate your car.
My uncle has a country place
That no one knows about.
He says it used to be a farm,
Before the Motor Law.
And on Sundays I elude the Eyes,
And hop the Turbine Freight
To far outside the Wire,
Where my white-haired uncle waits.
Jump to the ground
As the Turbo slows to cross the Borderline.
Run like the wind,
As excitement shivers up and down my spine.
Down in his barn,
My uncle preserved for me an old machine,
For fifty-odd years.
To keep it as new has been his dearest dream.
I strip away the old debris
That hides a shining car.
A brilliant red Barchetta
From a better, vanished time.
I fire up the willing engine,
Responding with a roar.
Tires spitting gravel,
I commit my weekly crime...
Wind-
In my hair-
Shifting and drifting-
Mechanical music-
Adrenalin surge...
Well-weathered leather,
Hot metal and oil,
The scented country air.
Sunlight on chrome,
The blur of the landscape,
Every nerve aware.
Suddenly ahead of me,
Across the mountainside,
A gleaming alloy air-car
Shoots towards me, two lanes wide.
I spin around with shrieking tires,
To run the deadly race,
Go screaming through the valley
As another joins the chase.
Drive like the wind,
Straining the limits of machine and man.
Laughing out loud
With fear and hope, I’ve got a desperate plan.
At the one-lane bridge
I leave the giants stranded at the riverside.
Race back to the farm, to dream with my uncle at the fireside
That sounds like Nixon’s opinion of the white house tapes . . .
http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/ted-talk-on-u-penn-swarming-quads-now-live
sky net is on its way
I’d never do business with any company with “progressive” in their title.
Great! Another post of a poem without title or author...
The Republic isn't returning. The next stop is tyranny.
IOW, if I have a wreck and I know I'm at fault I should drive around the block to have the info deleted before the cops show up?
“I will bet you the price of the car that the vehicle is disabled and won’t start if the black box is tampered with or removed. Sort of like the anti-lock brakes that when broken or unplugged, disable the vehicle from running at all.”
I am a third year law student that just did my rigorous writing course on this very topic. (4th Amendment lesser expectation of privacy in a vehicle and the impact of mandated EDR’s. The paper must be of publishable quality) If the EDR is disabled, all safety devices in the vehicle are disabled which includes the braking system.
If you are disturbed by the concept of a black box in your car, brace yourself for the second generation “mac box” that audio and video records everything inside the vehicle’s cab. My law professor was a District Judge. She was horrified at what my research turned up.
It's comforting to know that. [/s]
Yep - enter the era of blanket warrants...
” However, they can’t mandate that we not remove them.”
If they can mandate that we don’t remove tags from mattresses, they can mandate we don’t remove black boxes from cars.
;)
Red Barchetta by RUSH
if I have a wreck and I know I’m at fault I should drive around the block to have the info deleted before the cops show up?
*******************
Interesting idea but I’m not sure how all the EDRs work. I think some are a continuous loop device where others record and hold certain data events.
We should have known about all this years ago. Too much invasion of privacy.
Well, the anti-lock system in my car went out of commission (gave up the ghost) and that was at least six years ago and the car keeps right on chugging along.
Coming soon -
Buy anti-black box malware on a DVD for $9.95 on eBay. It wipes the EDR recorder clean, or replaces it with harmless data, while maintaining all other vehicle systems. Some hacker is going to be a zillionaire.
Or there will be sites on the Dark Web where you download code to override the EDR and upload harmless data into the black box.
University researchers have already built systems to hack and remotely take over your car. They can control braking, steering, heating, the radio, the stereo and lock or unlock your doors. Busting a black box is certainly coming soon.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.