Q: In light of the many Progressive insurance holders who have refused the company’s offer for using Snapshot, has there been a similar response to the black box that will be installed in cars in 2014? Can you tell us more about the data the black box will collect and how it will be used?
—Lori Srail, Johns Creek
A: The information stored or recorded by a car's black box belongs to the car owner, but 14 states have passed laws that "law enforcement officials and those involved in civil litigation can gain access to the black boxes with a court order," The New York Times reported in July. "Without protections, it can lead to all kinds of abuse," Khaliah Barnes of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, told the paper. Black boxes, or event data recorders (EDR), have been in cars for decades and are in 96 percent of new vehicles sold in the U.S. The National Highway Traffic Administration wants them installed in all new vehicles by September 2014. Unlike black boxes in airplanes, which constantly record conversations and aircraft performance, the recorders in cars capture data during an accident, including the speed of the vehicle, brake activity, seatbelt use and air bag deployment. Information recorded on black boxes, usually installed in the car's console, has been used in insurance investigations, to prove fault in accidents and help decide lawsuits. "They could do something like put a notification in the owner's manual saying that the driver has a reasonable expectation of privacy in that black box data," Nate Cardozo, a staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told NPR.
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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