[SGVLUG] [OT] I have found "Big Brother", and he is us...

[Tom Emerson]

On Tue, Jan 4, 2011 at 10:53 PM, Christopher Smith <cbsmith at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Depending on your thinking, this might strike you as far more/less big
> brother-ish than DriveMe Crazy:
> http://articles.latimes.com/print/2010/dec/28/business/la-fi-allstate-20101228
>

More: yes, and for the reasons mentioned in the article [eventually
becoming mandatory]
Less: I'm already of the belief that cars already have the equivalent
of an airplane "orange box" [black box?] flight recorder that can be
read via the diagnostic port after an accident, so by voluntarily
using a device to suck that info out of the box, you aren't really
giving up something that couldn't be retrieved otherwise (if that
makes sense)

there is also the fact that there is no "conclusive proof" that you
are the driver at all times (think car stolen by joyriding kids and
returned later, a la "ferris bueler")  Also, without video/audio
backup, how can the car tell the difference between a "swerve/hard
stop" caused by avoiding a ball bouncing into the street (followed by
a kid or a dog) vs. imbibing one too many?