A recent techdirt article says that
Thomas Fox-Brewster of Forbes is taking a closer look at a decade-plus of in-car surveillance, courtesy of electronics and services manufacturers are installing in as many cars as possible.
Following the news that cops are trying to sweat down an Amazon Echo in hopes of hearing murder-related conversations, it's time to revisit the eavesdropping that's gone on for years prior to today's wealth of in-home recording devices.
One of the more recent examples can be found in a 2014 warrant that allowed New York police to trace a vehicle by demanding the satellite radio and telematics provider SiriusXM provide location information.
In this case, SiriusXM complied by turning on its "stolen vehicle recovery" mode, which allowed law enforcement to track the vehicle for ten days. SiriusXM told Forbes it only does this in response to search warrants and court orders. That may be the case for real-time tracking, but any location information captured and stored by SiriusXM can be had with nothing more than a subpoena, as this info is normally considered a third-party record.
It's not just satellite radio companies allowing cops to engage in surreptitious tracking. OnStar and other in-vehicle services have been used by law enforcement to eavesdrop on personal conversations between drivers and passengers.
In at least two cases, individuals unwittingly had their conversations listened in on by law enforcement. In 2001, OnStar competitor ATX Technologies (which later became part of Agero) was ordered to provide "roving interceptions" of a Mercedes Benz S430V. It initially complied with the order in November of that year to spy on audible communications for 30 days, but when the FBI asked for an extension in December, ATX declined, claiming it was overly burdensome.
The 2001 case didn't end well for law enforcement. It wasn't that the court had an issue with the eavesdropping, but rather that the act of listening in limited the functionality of the in-car tech, which the court found to be overly-burdensome.
[...] Law enforcement may find encryption to be slowing things down in terms of accessing cell phone contents, but everything else -- from in-car electronics to the Internet of Things -- is playing right into their hands.
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 21 2017, @11:20PM
Oh, I wish... but I simply don't fit in currently-sold Ford cars. (didn't check trucks) I'm tall, but nothing strange: 6'2" (188 cm)
It was a bit of a shock. I am fond of Ford controls and fond of the company. I hit my head in the Taurus, Focus, Fiesta, and I think one or two more. The roofs are lower (fuel efficiency?), the inside surface lower still due to sunroofs, and they even add handles to the A piller. Speaking of that, who needs a handle to climb into a small car, and can such a person see over the dashboard or reach the pedals? In any case, I just don't fit in any Ford car.
(Score: 1) by EETech1 on Sunday January 22 2017, @12:12AM
Watch the review from top gear. I seem to recall them saying how much headroom it had.
They couldn't say enough about how awesome it is.
I guess the best way to find out is to test drive one!