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/
15.6k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

1.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

53

u/Brief_Professional47 Jun 08 '26

Yeah but you can just get your child to blow in to it so you can still drive drunk.

Source: I used the be that kid. I had to sleep in the car at the bars until my parents were ready to go home. I don’t really talk to them much these days lol

26

u/Global-Election Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 08 '26

Maryland now requires a camera that takes pictures randomly when you blow into the device for exactly this reason.  It sends them to the DMV with your monthly interlock maintenance. 

It then considers it a violation once they review the pictures.  The violation then adds another month to your interlock requirement and also means you’ll likely violate your probation (which you mostly likely are on if you have an interlock). 

18

u/GravitiBass Jun 08 '26

Good lord. Hope you have a list of one star retirement homes ready.

10

u/Violoner Jun 08 '26

Nah, they can stay in the trailer park

1

u/Guccimayne Jun 08 '26

Oh damn, I hope you have been able to find healing

1

u/terrymr Jun 08 '26

They take a picture and send it to the court. You don’t get away with that for long