Big Brother will be Watching

[Tom Kirkham]

Autos Insider | U.S. to propose mandatory vehicle 'black boxes' | The Detroit News

[Dennis Mosley]

Big brother has been watching for a few years now. The just didn't talk about it too much.

[Wbulk]

I knew about ten years ago the Highway Patrol was pulling the boxes after high speed accidents with Corvettes when there was a serious injury involved. I would emagine they would pull them from any car involved in a fatality. It would have to be serious enough to justify the cost. They have to send it out to a lab, or did then to retrieve the data. More concerning than that is I read an article a few years back where Calif. was considering downloading the data from your car as you drove past reciever locations. It would capture your speed data. They could easily do this the same way On-Star works and can read trouble codes, unlock your doors and so forth. I think this will become an issue as the technology becomes cheaper.

Wayne

[ACademic]

Cops added radar and companies developed radar detectors. Someone will come up with a fancy way to defeat these black boxes...and people like me will be writing them checks.

[Paul F]

It's a good thing. Vehicles are the most lethal item most Americans use every day. The least we can do is have accurate data about the use of them. It beats the heck out of eyewitnesses.

Traffic fatalities per year - 40,000
Airplane fatalities per year - 1000

If you want privacy;

Use cash - they monitor your every purchase for habits
Turn your cell phone off. They can track your position with some accuracy by triangulating your signal from the towers, in or out of your car.

Turn your computer off. They know every website you visit.

And put tape over your computer camera and break the microphone.

[bobcowan]

Originally Posted by Paul F

It's a good thing. .

No, it isn't. Name one instance where government monitoring of private citizens going about their lives has urned out to be good for the citizens. The only reason the gov't wants to moniter you is so they can control you.

[jolsen42]

Originally Posted by bobcowan

No, it isn't. Name one instance where government monitoring of private citizens going about their lives has urned out to be good for the citizens. The only reason the gov't wants to moniter you is so they can control you.

Amen.

John O

[Mark IV]

Originally Posted by Paul F

It's a good thing. Vehicles are the most lethal item most Americans use every day. The least we can do is have accurate data about the use of them. It beats the heck out of eyewitnesses.

Traffic fatalities per year - 40,000
Airplane fatalities per year - 1000

If you want privacy;

Use cash - they monitor your every purchase for habits
Turn your cell phone off. They can track your position with some accuracy by triangulating your signal from the towers, in or out of your car.

Turn your computer off. They know every website you visit.

And put tape over your computer camera and break the microphone.

Or you can do ike me and wear the hat made out of aluminum foil to keep the "thought waves" out........

[jbmatth]

Whether they are planning to use them as a way to control us, fine us, tax us, whatever. Just one more reason to drive the cobra more often.

[FWB]

Originally Posted by bobcowan

No, it isn't. Name one instance where government monitoring of private citizens going about their lives has urned out to be good for the citizens. The only reason the gov't wants to moniter you is so they can control you.

double amen.....

[FWB]

wait......doesn't everyone wear tin foil hats?


..............................

[Hydramada]

Who is John Galt?

[jolsen42]

Originally Posted by Hydramada

Who is John Galt?

That my friend is the direction we are heading.

John O

[DAVID GAGNARD]

Originally Posted by Tom Kirkham

Autos Insider | U.S. to propose mandatory vehicle 'black boxes' | The Detroit News

They are proposing a seperate date recovery system to the electronics already in autos....

But, before everyone starts making tin foil hats, you already have a similar system in your daily driver if it was made from the early 90's on.......It's called an ECM, or electronic control module, the main computer in cars/trucks that controls any and all electrical functions of a vehicle.......
they vary by type and brand, have a 15 to 30 second "loop"......if you bring your car/truck into a dealer for repairs, the first thing they do it plug into this and look for "faults" in the system to diagnose your problem. Anyone with the correct equipment can do this...
some of the things found in the ECM is ALL engine functions, rpms,transmission gear selection,brake pressure on the pedal and so forth and so on....by knowing the trans. gear selection and engine rpms, they can calculate the speed of the auto........this and other functions found can tell what has happeend in the last 15 to 30 seconds the engine was running.....
good/bad/ugly, it's already there, and at least on GM products been there since the early 90's........
don't ask how I know this, just take my word for it.....

David

[rodneym]

I wouldn't mind a black box being used if there was an accident in contention or someone was injured.
But that stuff about issues tickets is BS. Imagine no red light cameras. Just constant communication with a satellite, issuing tckets constantly. Eventually we'll just be passengers in Prii.
At least in Logan's Run they died young!

[RodKnock]

Here you go. You guys can pick out your favorite model of tin foil hat:

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by RodKnock

Here you go. You guys can pick out your favorite model of tin foil hat:

Dang, Rod... have you even driven your car once this year?

[Paul F]

Good luck with the tin foil hat. The government has mandated that all tin foil have micro-structures built in to them that when shaped into a helmet, such as seen in Rodknock's video, will create a transmitter that will broadcast to satellites, everything that is seen, heard, thought, and spoken by the wearer.

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by patrickt

Dang, Rod... have you even driven your car once this year?

Yes, I have and, BTW, I was wearing a very nice polished aluminum foil hat from Lands End or maybe it was Banana Republic. I can't remember, I spend so much time at the local mall.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by RodKnock

Yes, I have and, BTW, I was wearing a very nice polished aluminum foil hat...

Hmmm, well to your credit at least your chapeau matched your wheels.