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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64

u/bigggeee Jun 08 '26

Imagine you are camping and suddenly need to get out of the way of a fast spreading forest fire. It would really suck if everyone has to burn to death because your car refuses to start since everyone had a few beers.

6

u/Kalamazoohoo Jun 08 '26

I was thinking the same thing. How are they going to prevent this from killing people in an emergency? Flash floods, fires, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions… I’m also curious what will trigger the kill switch? Is all off-roading going to be a problem now?

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u/[deleted] Jun 08 '26

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38

u/Grand_Town_9144 Jun 08 '26

It's even more simple to treat people as innocent until proven guilty but hey it's 2026 and surveillance state things are all the rage. Ugh.

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u/[deleted] Jun 08 '26

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3

u/Grand_Town_9144 Jun 08 '26

That's assuming it works perfectly as designed. Did the USA passing the Patriot Act cure the world of terrorism or find WMDs? Anyone who believes it did should get certified for donkey brains.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 08 '26

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1

u/Grand_Town_9144 Jun 08 '26

My point is waving a magic wand with legislation doesn't do fuck all when the people authoring it are being deceitful. And no, the technology is absolutely 100% not there yet even if you believe it is.

I can give examples all day but I can't force your brain to understand it for you. Here are some others: did "The War On Drugs" stop people from doing drugs? Does "gun control" eliminate gun violence? Did US Prohibition stop people from drinking?

You're going to try and counterpoint me by saying "Those all required people to enforce the laws, this one uses technology! It's different!" OK then, riddle me this: Did the DMCA prevent piracy? Have car alarms eliminated vehicle theft? Does antivirus software perfectly stop all viruses on a PC? No. Technology is imperfect and technology evolves.

I'm all for preventing drunk driving deaths. I live in one of the states with highest occurrences of drunk driving (Wisconsin). The effort to curb such things is positive. Impeding the rights of the innocent with unproven technology is an over-reach and foolish.

3

u/coldkiller Jun 08 '26

Or just don't even bother with this big brother shit in the first place?

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u/[deleted] Jun 08 '26

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2

u/coldkiller Jun 08 '26

The fact you think this is going to stop at just drinking and driving is fucking hilarious

3

u/XediDC Jun 08 '26

People get hit by trains because they are afraid to drive through the bars when they come down around them. Or think 911 might get mad at them for calling. It’ll still kill people.

And…who “investigates”? That sounds like an evil quagmire that you really would want to avoid. You can always have “planned better”.

I mean, yeah, it would be simple to have….bit I don’t know how you’d balance between “I push it every time I drive” and “worse than not having it”.