Come 2013 cars manufacturers may be required to install black boxes, the event data recorders that store information about your driving, into every vehicle made to be sold in the United States. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wants you to weigh-in on whether this is okay or not.

NHTSA proposed the new rule early in December, but is looking for “comments” on the rule, to be submitted by February 11, 2013. It notes that “comments … are most useful if submitted within 30 days.” You can comment online, through smail mail, and hand delivery if you’re in Washington, D.C. Instructions can be found on the government regulations website.

Black boxes record information when a car is performing certain potentially dangerous actions such as swerving and abrupt braking. It also takes note of how fast a person is driving, whether the seat-belts are being used, how many people are in the car, and other data points.

The agency specifically states that this data will be used to “understand vehicle crashes more precisely.” That information will also be given to manufacturers so that new safety features can be created and implemented into future car designs. The proposal also states that the data could be given out to emergency response teams who can gather as much information as possible before arriving at the scene of the accident.

As Wired notes, EPIC, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, has a section on asks the questions, who will own the data, what types of data can be collected now and in the future, and if consumers should be told the black boxes exist before the purchase the car.

Car image via Shutterstock

Filed under: Security

Categorised as: Chief Digital Officer | Digital Media | Feedster

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