Privacy protections for car owners passes senate

OLYMPIA – A bill by Sen. Claudia Kauffman, D-Kent, passed the senate today with the goal of making it clear to consumers what’s under the hood of their car, and creating privacy protections for the information that newer vehicle ‘black boxes’ hold.

“As technology becomes more advanced and more a part of the things we use every day, we need to stay on top of protecting privacy just like many people are staying on top of ways to use new technology to their advantage,” Kauffman said.

While event data recorders (EDR) have traditionally been installed in vehicles for crash data research, the amount and type of data recorded has expanded beyond crash and collision information, including the location and speed of the vehicle, and whether the driver was wearing a seat belt.

Currently there are no state regulations around EDR.

Kauffman’s bill (SB 6341) seeks to change that, and does several things — requires auto manufacturers and subscription services to disclose to consumers that the vehicles are equipped with the recorders, establishes the owner of the vehicle as owner of the EDR data and limits access to the data unless approved by the owner or a court order. “A lot of consumers don’t know that their vehicles are equipped with the EDR devices,” Kauffman said, “this comes down to consumer protection and maintaining the integrity of individual private information.”

Kauffman is Vice Chair of the Consumer Protection & Housing Committee.

Ten states have enacted legislation regarding automobile data recorders and consumer privacy since 2004. After passing the senate 42-6, Kauffman’s bill now goes to the House of Representatives for further consideration.

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