There's a data recorder under your driver's seat "taking notes" on your driving. What do you suppose is going to come of that data?http://scienceaintsobad.com/2013/11/24/a-spy-under-your-hood-the-future-of-car-data/

1. scie nce aint so bad.co m
http://scienceaintso bad.co m/2013/11/24/a-spy-under-yo ur-ho o d-the-future-o f-car-data/
A Spy Under Your Hood. Your Data And Who’s Going To Get It.
MISTER Science Ain't So Bad
A GREAT DATA SUCKING SOUND
Almost all new cars now have “black
box” event recorders. T hey collect
data about the way the vehicle is
driven.
Lots of data.
T he black boxes were originally placed
there to help make lif e/death decisions
about when and how air bags should
be deployed based on what’s
happening in the car at the time of a
crash. But the data can be used f or
other stuf f too.
If there’s an accident and the accident
was caused by bad brakes, there’s an
opportunity to learn f rom that. Brakes
will get better.
The Car That Kne w To o Muc h
T hat’s a good thing. But I should warn you. T his is a step in the “data wars”.
INSURANCE AND YOUR BLACK BOX
eSurance of f ers you you a big discount on premiums. All you have to do is add its gadget to your car.
”Drivesense” uploads the data f rom your car to its own database and then let’s you review your driving and
learn f rom it. T he hitch? Your f olks get to review your driving and learn f rom it too. If things go good – if the
gadget shows that you’re the right kind of driver – eSurance will reduce your premiums by up to 30 percent.
Would they use this data to raise your premiums?
Never, they say.
But what if you have an accident? Would eSurance deny a claim based on what is learned f rom Drivesense?
What do you think?
Af ter an accident, automotive event recorders “lock down” the details of what was happening. I already
described how car makers plan to use it to improve f uture designs.
With a court order, others can get it too. Even though it’s your car, the other party in the accident may be able
to use the inf ormation f rom your black box against you.
Some people f ind that annoying as hell.
What else?

2. YOUR CAR’S BLACK BOX AND YOUR TAXES
Could automotive event records be used to raise revenue f or government? Maybe charge a tax based on miles
driven?
Some states are on it. Congress might be too.
I’m serious.
T he thinking is that by sticking it to.. scuse me – by taxing miles driven, maybe there’s an opportunity here to
make drivers think twice about eco-f riendly alternatives. Trains, bicycles, subways.
Did I mention that it might also be an excuse to just plain raise more taxes?
CAR T O CAR DATA SWAPPING
David Shamah (Tel Aviv Tech writing in Z D Net) discusses the biggest plan f or all this data. Inter-vehicular
connectivity. GM’s vision – and that of others in the industry – is that cars will be part of an enormous public
network that swaps data back and f orth between vehicles and other inf rastructure to prevent accidents and
optimize driving ef f iciency. T his could certainly be the data backbone of self driving cars.
Typically, the event recorders are located under the drivers seat. Getting at it is a pain since it’s usually under
the carpet. Although I haven’t seen it, I imagine mine with the words PANDORA scrawled across the top.
-–-–-T he drawing is mine.