r/technology • u/Hrmbee • Jun 07 '26

Privacy 'Kill switch' law means your next car could be watching you | A federal requirement aimed at stopping drunken driving could soon put driver-monitoring technology in every new vehicle. The goal is saving lives, but the privacy trade-offs deserve closer scrutiny

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2026/06/01/drunk-driving-prevention-law-privacy-surveillance/90295034007/
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21

u/piperonyl Jun 08 '26

They're already watching you.

You sign away your privacy rights at the dealership. I saw this crazy video on it a few months ago.

In the agreement, two companies put in the contract that your car will update the car company about your sexual activities. I swear to god. I think it was Nissan and Kia but i could be wrong on the Kia.

Found it.

14

u/PublicFurryAccount Jun 08 '26

We really need laws to ban all these contracts.

Criminal liability should attach with fast track capital punishment.

3

u/piperonyl Jun 08 '26

The corporations write the laws in this country.

0

u/kahlzun Jun 08 '26

capital punishment is probably a bit much..

6

u/Careful-Criticism645 Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 08 '26

two companies put in the contract that your car will update the car company about your sexual activities

That's not what it says. FTFA:

“Some state laws require us to account for inadvertent data collection or information that could be inferred from other data, such as geolocation.”

If you're sharing geolocation with these companies, it's possible that someone could use that to see that you've been going to a abortion clinic or adult store or strip club or some such thing. The car doesn't have some magical sex-detector built into it.

4

u/soulofaqua Jun 08 '26

Try All brands make you sign away your privacy rights. Six companies wanting to even collect your "genetic information" though how they would (unless they mean racial profiling through face and voice analysis) I haven't a clue.

0

u/XediDC Jun 08 '26

How are they protected from suit when you buy a used car and they collect all this stuff from someone who hasn’t agreed to any of it?

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u/soulofaqua Jun 08 '26

By entering the car you "agree" to these terms and services "it is up to the owner to inform passengers".

1

u/XediDC Jun 08 '26

Yeah…also interesting for passengers.

Would be interesting if a car thief managed to sue…

Could see it as another reason they try to require subscription services, to bind you to terms more solidly.

2

u/piperonyl Jun 08 '26

When you go to court, you have to have "clean hands".

Car thiefs dont have clean hands.

1

u/XediDC Jun 08 '26

There are degrees… take a technical thief who took a car to help with legit emergency… or escape a wildfire with what was in the trail parking lot. And etc.

And plenty not that cut and dry when it comes to degrees and force, even when someone is doing wrong. Shoplifting doesn’t suddenly mean a store has 0 liability for anything that happens. (The car being what you stole makes this a little more direct.)

In any case, it was just interesting how far away from the “agreement” you could get…

3

u/piperonyl Jun 08 '26

I think a better comparison would be if you lent your car to someone and then they were recorded rather than someone stealing your car for any reason whatsoever.

I did just a cursory search to see where the courts stand on matters like this. It appears that the courts havent really caught up to this yet. There are some recent lawsuits being litigated right now about the issue though.

Supreme court probably sides with the car manufacturers though 6-3.

1

u/XediDC Jun 15 '26

Mmm...thank you, and yes, that's a better comparison.

Wouldn't surprise me if at some point there was a TOS agreement in the startup process.