Networked Cars: Good For Safety, Bad For Privacy 327
jfruh writes "Networked cars — cars that can identify each other's location and prevent collisions — are coming soon, and will be a boon for safety, with one estimate having them cut accidents by 70 percent. But what happens to all the data the car will collect — about your location and driving behavior? It's worrisome that nobody seems to be thinking seriously about the privacy side of the equation."
Some saw this coming... (Score:5, Interesting)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methuselah's_Children [wikipedia.org]
He even has a part where someone modifies the chip in the car to hide their ID as they slip off a monitored road onto an illegal side road...
Re:Worse? (Score:4, Interesting)
So make vehicles only identify where they are (and how fast they're moving, etc). You don't have to put an ID to every vehicle...just like a you don't have to identify individual electrons to direct electron flow competently.
Re:Cell Phone (Score:5, Interesting)
Every driver already has a tracking device...
Plus, California uses electronic toll transponders to track cars on the freeways to determine traffic flows.
I thought they used to be more up front about this use, but the only reference I could find on the Bay Area Fastrak site is buried in the terms of use:
http://www.bayareafastrak.com/dynamic/signup/terms.html [bayareafastrak.com]
You agree that the Toll Tag may be read to provide anonymous traffic flow data to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission's '511' project, a real time traffic information service. No information identifying a FasTrak account, person or vehicle using the Toll Tag will be collected by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission or '511'. If you do not want your Toll Tag's presence to be noted by '511', remove the Toll Tag from your windshield and place it in the special bag you received with the Toll Tag. Be sure to replace the Toll Tag on your windshield before you enter a FasTrak lane in order to avoid toll violation charges. If you would like additional information about '511', please visit www.511.org.
Automation and identification are not codependent (Score:5, Interesting)
This is why we cant have nice things (Score:3, Interesting)
While there are instances where privacy concerns are legitimate, in cases like this it is my opinion (yes I'm entitled to it, no you dont have to like it or agree with it, and so what if you dont) that the only people concerned with the what if's and maybe's are those who do not abide the law.
Two million miles (Score:2, Interesting)
In the last ten years alone I have driven two million miles incident free. That is around four times the average American drives in their lifetime. I have three million miles to go before I get a fancy safety bonus. This is normal for professional drivers.
Everyone that can't concentrate for 14 hours straight can't get a professional license. I guess they are more than human.
Re:i don't know ... (Score:2, Interesting)
Which is one reason why the police usually pull over one of the lead drivers as everybody else is usually required to drive with the flow of traffic. And it's not random at all. As long as you're not the first driver and speeding, you're not going to be pulled over for speeding. What's more, the odds go up drastically when you're engaged in other dangerous practices like sudden starts and stops and weaving between lanes. If you're just going with the flow of traffic you're not going to get a ticket.
By the same token, you can get a ticket for driving too slowly. This is something a lot of people don't know, but if you're impeding the flow of traffic that is also an offense that can lead to a ticket.
Unfortunately, the police generally opt not to cite cyclists for that even when it applies.
Re:This is why we cant have nice things (Score:4, Interesting)
Privacy isn't always about hiding wrong-doing; it's about hiding things that some people are too narrow minded or ignorant to understand and accept.
And thus perpetrating the system where ignorant bigots have power.
Think about it, would have it been better if gay activists in 60-s used privacy protection to shield their private lives instead of openly admitting their sexual orientation and fighting for their rights?
Re:Not worried. (Score:5, Interesting)
has the potential to store everyones movements, forever.
*sigh* People who know nothing about privacy worrying about privacy...
No, it does not store anyones' movements. It stores an ID chips movements. Ten years ago there was a panel discussion about the coupon cards (or whatever you call them in your part of the world) that were just emerging. You know, these PayBack and whatever "customer cards" that give you a few % off if you put them down when shopping? And which, of course, log your shopping habbits and send them back to some big database to be datamined? I'm fairly confident (and said so) that the company doesn't give a flying fuck about you, they are looking for large patterns - e.g. x% of people who buy A are also buying B so maybe we should move the locations of A and B in the shop around.
However, there was a simple solution to the privacy problem that I suggested and that was immediately executed by a few people in the audience: Stand up and exchange your card with someone else. Repeat every now and then.
So you are worried that someone is tracking your car? Talk to your neighbour. Drive his car for a week while he drives yours. Borrow a car from a friend for your trip down to the local strip club. Switch cars with your wife more often. Of stop owning a car and rent one every now and then.
Sure, it isn't as simple as exchanging a card, but do you really care about privacy or are you just whining?
Re:They don't have to be (just generate a GUID) (Score:4, Interesting)
What I think will be interesting is, once ubiquitous data is available on all peoples' behaviour at all times (and it will be, sooner or later), whether public pressure builds to change some of our stupider laws. There are a great number of laws which in principle are not always what the average person would call 'just' - but we tolerate them because 'they're only applied to bad people'. Once automated law enforcement is implemented, people will start realising just how important discretion is, or alternately, just how many laws should be fixed or repealed.