Don't Let Government Track Our Movement

The Senate has just passed a bill (S.B. 1813) that includes a provision (Section 31406) requiring 'black box' data recorders to be installed in all new automobiles and light trucks as of the 2015 model year. The law also provides for substantial civil penalties for any owner who disables the recording ability of their MAP-21 black boxes. The government can read the recorded data from these boxes simply by plugging into the vehicle, and use that data to determine where the car has been, how fast it's been going at what location, etc., and then prosecute the driver or owner based upon the information they recover.

Now, you might ask, "What's the problem? The law, as written, requires either voluntary permission from the vehicle owner or a court order before data can be retrieved."The same requirements exist today in order for police to gather information from an indivual's cell phone, but police routinely ignore this and gather call logs and contact information from suspected criminals without obtaining permission. The excuse offered is that this information will not be used as evidence in court, but in fact the information is gathered and combined with other sources of information and used in police investigations, without the consent of the cell phone owner... and there is no way you can undo this information gathering and remove the data from the police once they have it.

The ease of access to this data, without a reasonable way to protect it from unlawful retrieval, effectively removes any legal protection against abuse. What if the government decided to prosecute anyone who has driven by a certain intersection during a specific window of time, say 10pm to 2am, for drug possession, using their location/time information as evidence? And so, they randomly stop vehicles, and temporarily detain the driver and occupants while they access and download tracking data, then plot all of the 'tracks' in a mapping application. Do you want the police to have the ability to see exactly where you've been, so they can use that information against you?

Where you've been, and when, is not the government's business, and being forced to gather this information violates your rights under the 1st, 4th, 5th, and 9th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

This bill has not yet passed the House of Representatives, so it's not too late to strip out these onerous, intrusive provisions into our privacy. Please sign the petition so that our representatives and our president can be reminded that the Constitution still applies, that we are still a free people, that it is no one's business but ours where we have gone, and tell the government to keep their hands off of our freedoms!