All new automobiles to come with trackers installed in 2015

Hello Everyone!

I work at a Toyota dealership as a salesman in Pennsylvania. In our weekly sat morning meeting we were told by our GM that Toyota will be shipping cars with a device installed in it where we can use our phone to actively find the vehicle on the lot. Which is cool and handy if your a salesperson. But, with me being an active watcher of this board I couldn't help but to think more into this.

What happens with this installed device after the car is bought?

Is it only Toyota with these devices?

I did a little digging and apparently a law was passed that makes this mandatory for all new cars in 2015, and it goes way beyond just tracking cars at the dealership.

(CBS News) A recently passed bill will require all cars to come equipped with "black boxes" that record vehicle data. These Event Data Recorders (EDR), similar to their airplane counterparts, will record data such as speed, brake force and electrical systems monitoring. The days of a car crash being one driver's word against another look to be history.

Senate Bill 1813 (known as Map-21) mandates that automakers install EDRs in all new vehicles starting in 2015. The bill was recently passed and is expected to be approved by the House.

The National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration has been studying and mulling over EDRs in vehicles for several years, but has stopped short of requiring manufacturers to implement them, CNET reports. However, many auto manufacturers already use these devices to help engineers and mechanics perform diagnostics tests and identify malfunctioning parts.

Black boxes like these were instrumental in clearing Toyota of responsibility for the "unintended acceleration" accidents of 2009. They are also used in assistance systems such as GM's OnStar to alert emergency response services in the event of a crash.

MAP-21 will standardize which events the black boxes can record and require their installation in all vehicles sold in 2015 and beyond.

Some links:

www.cbsnews.com... s-by-2015/

www.extremetech.com... etales-its-in-your-car-already

www.... forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/04/19/hate-to-break-it-to-you-but-your-car-likely-has-a-black-box-spying-on-you-already/

Seems like par for the course I suppose, good thing the interwebs will probably show us how to disconnect them.
Now if they tie it into the car system and disabling it will cause other operational problems, then that would be a little whack. We should have an option one way or another me thinks.

Please add to the discussion already in progress here:

www.abovetopsecret.com...



Closed.