Our colleagues from the Motorcycle Riders Foundation representing riders’ rights in the USA have put out a fascinating press release that can turn the whole ITS argument on its head.
They argue that if we have to have companies using “Telematics” to monitor the vehicles – bring it on.
They say “Fighting the technology is a fool’s errand. But there is a fight we can win: ownership. We can make a case that the data is the property of the vehicle owner”.
“The MRF spoke with panelist Andrew Christensen, Nissan of North America’s Senior Manager of Technology Planning, at a recent U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure hearing about driverless cars. Mr. Christensen, said, “It’s a long way off, but it’s certainly possible with systems that include sensors and computers; but the vehicle would have to be in virtual contact with the manufacturer at all times and that technology is nowhere near fleet level.”
Fighting the technology is a fool’s errand.
But there is a fight we can win: ownership.
We can make a case that the data is the property of the vehicle owner.
“This is a fight for access to the customer,” said Fred Blumer, CEO of VehCon, emphasizing that the aftermarket should focus less on accessing OEM data than on empowering customers to take ownership of the vehicle data.
“The argument you can win is that this is the customer’s data,” he added; this is why it’s so important to pass legislation making data the personal property of the vehicle owner.
H.R. 2414 has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives to do just that.
The “Black Box Privacy Protection Act” gives the customer the ability to turn the data sharing off as well as make the data the property of the car, truck, or motorcycle owner.
From the standpoint of consumer privacy rights, most consumers are not aware that their vehicles are recording data.
This data not only may be used to aid traffic safety analyses, but also has the potential of being used against them in a civil or criminal proceeding, or by their insurer to increase rates.
Original Source – Read The Full Article – Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) – Click Here
Links Information
Right To Ride – Virtual Library – Warning Control Systems
Intelligent Transport Systems – The Motorcycle Factor – Click Here
Black Box Bill
21st January 2014
MRF – Motorcycle Riders Foundation on privacy concern on black box technology
The United States Senate is addressing privacy concerns surrounding data event recorders in automobiles. Event Data Recorders (EDRs), commonly known as “black boxes” are almost standard equipment in all new cars and trucks. They record everything the vehicle is doing, or not doing at the time of a collision or other on road mishap. The boxes can record everything from speed and vehicle angle, to seat-belt use.
U.S. Senators John Hoeven (R-ND) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) have introduced legislation, S.1925, to make the data recorder the sole property of the vehicle owner. Anyone else would need a subpoena to access the data. The data would also be available should the vehicle owner consent to data retrieval or for traffic safety research.
“Technology is advancing at an unprecedented pace and that poses new risks to personal privacy and new concerns for the public,” Hoeven said. “While EDRs can serve a useful function by helping to make cars and streets safer, access to the data should be treated as personal except under very specific circumstances. Our bill makes clear what those circumstances are and helps to ensure that government and other entities respect the Fourth Amendment rights of Americans.”
The Senate legislation is similar to the bill currently being worked on by the U.S. House of Representatives, H.R. 2414. The Motorcycle Riders Foundation supports both pieces of legislation and encourages you to contact your elected officials in the House and Senate and ask them to cosponsor these important bills.
Original Source – Click Here
New black box legislation does not go far enough to protect motorcyclists’ privacy rights
On Jan. 14th U.S. Sens. John Hoeven (R.-N.D.) and Amy Klobuchar (D.-Minn.) introduced S. 1925, the Driver Privacy Act.
The bill would codify that information collected by an event data recorder – commonly referred to as a black box – would be the legal property of the owner or lessee of a passenger motor vehicle.
However, as currently written, S. 1925 only provides privacy protections to vehicles that are specifically mentioned in CFR 49, section 563. This section does not include any reference to motorcycles!
As a result, the privacy protections offered to passenger motor vehicles would not extend to motorcyclists. In fact, all information collected from motorcyclists would remain unprotected.
Please contact your senators today and urge them to protect motorcyclists’ rights. You can send your senators a prewritten message by filling out the form below and clicking “submit”.
The American Motorcyclist Association supports clarifying who owns the data collected in black boxes – currently only 14 states have laws relating to ownership of data in an event data recorder.
This issue needs to be resolved because, as Sen. Hoeven said on the floor of the U.S. Senate: “There are more than 45 different data points that are in fact recorded right now. Again, the manufacturer can change this – add to it. There are no limitations or restrictions or guidelines or requirements on what manufacturers can have the event data recorder do.”
While event data recorders are not currently required for motorcycles, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration already requires all passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, trucks, and buses to be equipped with a black box. The AMA believes it is only a matter of time before this mandate extends to motorcycles.
The AMA fully supports extending the provisions in S. 1925 to motorcyclists, in much the same manner that the U.S. House of Representatives’ H.R. 2414, the Black Box Privacy Protection Act, would. The AMA fully supports the bipartisan House bill.
The AMA submitted comments to Sens. Hoeven and Klobuchar. You can view the AMA’s comments online.
Now more than ever, it is crucial that you and your riding friends become members of the AMA/ATVA to help us protect our riding freedoms. More members mean more clout against the opponents of motorcycling, and your support will help the AMA fight for your rights – on the road, trail, racetrack, and in the halls of government. To join, go to AmericanMotorcyclist.com/membership/join.
Please Follow the AMA on Twitter @AMA_Rights and like us on facebook.
Original Source – Click Here