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< Previous
Next > Big Brother's Along for the Ride There might be a patron
saint of travel watching over you, and it isn't necessarily St. Christopher. If
you drive a car, owned, leased or rented, from around the year 2000 onward, there
is a good chance it has an Event Data Recorder (EDR) onboard. Much like a flight
data recorder that is on commercial airliners to provide ex post facto information
about events leading up to an accident, the EDR is a GPS-enabled microprocessor
system that collects and stores real-time information on position, speed and acceleration.
Unlike pilots, though, most drivers are not aware of the devices monitoring their
activity. While there are many
positive
uses for the collected data that assists in R&D for designing safer vehicles
and driver education, our friends the Trial Lawyers have used the information to
prosecute operators in court. Convictions have been obtained based on EDR data for
drunken drivers who have killed innocent people - a good thing indeed. However,
insurance and other companies, as well as private detectives have acquired the ability
to read EDR contents and use the information against drivers. In one infamous case,
a national rental car company was forced to reimburse a client for fees imposed
against his credit card ($450) for speeding based on EDR data. I just thought you
would like to know before planning your next excursion.
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