Last Tuesday, Google unveiled a proper self-driving car, with no steering wheel, no brakes, no pedals. Google expects these no-hands-on-wheel cars to hit the roads in 2017 and it is up to us to craft the laws and policies that will govern their use. Such decisions cannot be left for tomorrow. As Google's working prototype reveals, the robocars of the future are here. And because people have a long history of projecting personal freedom and autonomy onto automobiles, they will have an innate understanding of the stakes.
This essay at Wired suggests that we have had a communication problem in convincing mainstream society of the dangers of pervasive surveillance. The author makes a case that the car metaphor made literal is the way American society will finally come to grips with the issue in a visceral, understand-it-in-your-gut way.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Ethanol-fueled on Tuesday June 03 2014, @03:45AM
They should make a self-driving van with a bed in it so you can copulate on the way home from the bar. Think about it, wouldn't that be awesome? To copulate while driving through city traffic?
That's why we need privacy features in self-driving vehicles.
(Score: 2) by Kilo110 on Tuesday June 03 2014, @03:54AM
I"d want a self driving car with a full bathroom. That way I can get out of bed and straight into my car and get ready on my way to work.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday June 03 2014, @04:29AM
Highly likely the people will start to avoid you after a week or so. Given what you describe (get out of bed and straight into the bathroom/car), chances are you won't have enough time to change the water often enough.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 03 2014, @06:05AM
What? You mean they are not going to fully automate that and turn it over to robotic equipment too?
Real questions might be things like "will they have internal cameras too?"
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday June 03 2014, @06:13AM
The "Deluxe" models most probably will. However, if you could afford a deluxe, I imagine you wouldn't need to go to the office.
(warning: "double-plus good" wording ahead) Positive, as a standard and mandatory option. Only the deluxe model would come with the optional option to remove have them removed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Kilo110 on Tuesday June 03 2014, @04:43PM
shouldn't be too difficult to plug in the charger cable and water tubing after coming home every day.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bob_super on Tuesday June 03 2014, @04:18AM
It's called a limo.
(Score: 0, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 03 2014, @04:24AM
It's a good rule of thumb; if an article title is written in the form of a question, the answer is almost always "no"
(Score: 1) by moondoctor on Tuesday June 03 2014, @04:36AM
I'd bet you're right. It's probably more along the lines of 'Major Moment in Privacy Debate'. Cars, 'Freedom', and The American Dream are definitely tied in the psyche. I'd bet it will be the most widely debated side of the privacy issue at bars and dinner tables.
Whether it spurs a breakthrough is another story...
(Score: 2) by Tork on Tuesday June 03 2014, @06:02AM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 4, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 03 2014, @06:06AM
I hate that 'rule' and I have a suggestion for your thumb.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by davester666 on Tuesday June 03 2014, @07:05AM
Actually, in this case it will probably be "yes", and the so-called "breakthrough in privacy" will be the complete removal of it. These cars will automatically log, including pictures most likely, of the start and end of every trip, the time, any stops made where the doors were opened, and a more than decent chance of all audio in the car recorded for the entire trip, to Google's servers, with a helpful stop of "it's all metadata to us" at the NSA.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by juggs on Tuesday June 03 2014, @04:35AM
No. The insurance and motor manufacturing industries will use their lobbying and campaign funding to ensure things unfold as they wish.
TFA has it right - people on the whole are either ignorant or complacent about what is going on in this sphere. I don't see self-driving cars changing that however. They will be marketed as "own a self driving car today - your insurance premiums will fall, you will have more free time, read the paper or play games on your device during your commute - life will be magical". No doubt with idealised pictures of a family with 2.1 kids and a Labrador.
It's too late, the avalanche has commenced, there is no point trying to stand in the way of an avalanche trying to kick it back up-hill. That's only going to end one way.... badly.
These systems will be reversed, they will be subverted to submit bogus data back to their masters whereby we all drive in tiny circles at 1 MPH under the speed limit for 18 minutes a day before parking on Mars for a few hours, yet the odometer count is only 10 miles.
Of course those that do such things could become persons of interest by such activity - I would hope, in the USA at least, legislation against meddling with one's own hardware would cause a pitchfork and burning tar revolution. You guys seem to be hot on that thar freedom stuff.
Shame most motor sales are now moving to the leasing model / bubble payment finance etc. Strange how these things all tie in.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 03 2014, @04:53PM
I cannot imagine that an image of a fractional kid, no matter how idealized, would increase the sale of self-driving cars. :-)
(Score: 2) by edIII on Tuesday June 03 2014, @06:15PM
I just won't have a car anymore.
In fact, the moment they appear, I WILL NOT have a car anymore. One of my reservations about owning a motorcycle, or a bicycle is that traffic is too dangerous and people are morons.
When most of the cars are on full auto, I will be on my bicycle and it should be a lot safer at that point. No more people running red lights and ignoring stop signs. It practically eliminates road rage. Those buttheads will be too busy yelling at people on the Internet during their commutes.
The one thing I know for certain is that it will be much harder to restrict my freedom of movement and track me when I'm one of the few people without all the tracking devices, car included.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by Taibhsear on Wednesday June 04 2014, @03:48PM
Except for the bicyclists, of course.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday June 03 2014, @04:40AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Angry Jesus on Tuesday June 03 2014, @05:40PM
It might make "driving while black" a thing of the past too.
http://www.theverge.com/2014/5/30/5761476/duck-the-police-with-a-google-car [theverge.com]
(Score: 1) by Max Hyre on Tuesday June 03 2014, @07:44PM
Millions of drivers are willing to let the authorities know their (or at least their auto's) location, probably in real time. So far, they aren't issuing speeding tickets based on in/out times, but it's gotta be on the way.
I've avoided it based on my privacy concerns, so I got a real jolt when, the last time I passed over the Henry Hudson Bridge [wikipedia.org]: they'd removed the cash toll booths, and assured me that if I didn't have an E-ZPass, they'd read my license plate and bill me by mail. Luckily, it's easy to avoid the bridge (just cross on Broadway), but the writing's on the wall.
(Score: 1) by khedoros on Tuesday June 03 2014, @10:07PM