Intel wants to see your car 'connected'
A report in the New York Times has highlighted the advances Intel is making with in-car black box technology - which as well as recording vehicle speed and location data now incorporates video.
The US Congress is pushing for the mandatory installation of aircraft style black boxes in cars over there, partly motivated by the troubles surrounding Toyota's 'unintended acceleration' issue.
The NYT report describes how Intel has been showing off its kit on a Smart car, and how as well as recording data like speed and whether you braked before an accident, it now records footage from cameras located inside and outside the car.
According to Intel this is not ground-breaking technology, as the system uses kit that will become standardised on cars in future as manufacturers increasingly opt to fit driver aids like all-round parking cameras, gps and internet connectivity.
At present and in the US at least, any on-board data recorded by your vehicle belongs not to you as the car's owner, but to the manufacturer.
New black box technology, if it happens, is sure to open a whole new can of worms over privacy issues and who may be required to pass what info to the police or insurance companies when things go pear-shaped. What a thrilling prospect...
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 4 3"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1 1"%3E%3C/svg%3E)