The end of privacy is accelerating, and the U.S. government has its foot on the gas pedal.
Many Canadians were alarmed by Mark Carney’s decision to allow 49,000 Chinese Communist controlled electric vehicles to be imported into Canada. Even the Liberals have acknowledged the potential problem these Communist Trojan horses could pose to national security. What has received no attention are the efforts by the U.S. federal government to introduce new surveillance powers into your next car.
Republicans and Democrats joined forces in 2021 to pass a law, which requires the government to create regulations requiring passive anti-impaired driving technology to be installed in all new vehicles. The aim is to have the rules in place for all new 2027 passenger vehicles.
Infrared cameras and sensors will be used to continuously assess your every eye movement, blink or glance. If the software determines you are alert and sober, it will allow the car to start. If your car determines you are driving while drowsy it could activate the new mandatory emergency braking system, also required by the same law to be in every new passenger vehicle.
If the software makes a mistake, a false positive, and determines you are impaired, when you are not, you will be stranded and unable to operate your vehicle. Canadians with some medical conditions, which do not impair driving ability, may experience higher rates of these false positive mistakes simply because of a slight difference in the speed with which their pupils dilate.
Automotive companies forced to install expensive new technologies might seek to offset the costs by monetizing your data. Companies already exploit lengthy terms of service contracts to trick customers into agreeing to allow the company to sell your data. This bio-metric data would be constantly collected and be of special interest to third parties, including your car insurance company, but also your life insurance company.
While the technology is mandated to monitor for drowsiness or impairment, it could also be used to determine so much more of your physiology. Imagine being targeted with ads each night based on your mood after a long commute.
When this technology is combined with the Liberals’ latest lawful access legislation, it would create a new opportunity for the government to spy on you. The recently introduced legislation, Bill C-22, requires companies to maintain digital information on all users for up to a year, and allow the government to access the data on demand, without a warrant.
It is time for Canadians to hit the brakes on this invasion of privacy.