- The EU General Security Regulation will be expanded
- Driver distraction warning systems will need to be installed in new cars
- Privacy advocates are already raising concerns about the data
Starting this week, the European Commission has declared that all new vehicles registered in the European Union will have to be equipped with advanced driver distraction warning (ADDW) systems to comply with new, stricter safety legislation.
While European roads are among the safest in the world, the European Commission stated in its announcement that “the number of deaths and injuries from road accidents remains too high.” As a result, it is scheduled to expand its General Safety Regulation to include several new requirements.
Among the new requirements are advanced emergency braking systems that detect pedestrians and cyclists, as well as “better forward vision” and camera-based driver distraction technology that audibly warns drivers to pay attention to the road.
Many new cars already feature this technology, which uses a small camera mounted behind the steering wheel or somewhere above the infotainment system in the center of the dashboard.
Constantly active, the system monitors the driver’s eyes and facial expressions, intervening if it detects the driver taking their eyes off the road for too long.
Current manufacturers’ systems range from audible beeps and on-screen safety notifications when it detects a distraction, to disabling automated cruise control and other functions.
Critics have already criticized the decision, with the European Conservative describing the commission’s move as the “latest pesky piece of EU overregulation”, which comes with little clarification on how the data will be handled.
These ADDW systems must operate in a closed-loop system, where all data is processed locally in the car and never uploaded to any third-party servers.
However, since April 2018, all newly approved passenger cars and light vans in the EU must include an eCall emergency system that automatically contacts emergency services in the event of a serious accident.
This, coupled with the fact that consulting firm McKinsey predicts that 95% of all vehicles will be connected to the internet by 2030, means it’s not a stretch to think that driver monitoring data could eventually leave the vehicle.
Analytics: a data privacy nightmare
Analysis conducted by Mozilla in 2023 examined the privacy policies of 25 car brands and found that none of them met their own privacy and security standards. Mozilla concluded that cars were “the worst product category we’ve ever reviewed for privacy.”
In 2024, the Texas Attorney General opened an investigation into several automakers following reports that they had been collecting large amounts of driver data and selling it to third parties.
As the European Conservative points out, there is currently very little clarity from the EU on how driver data is handled, meaning there is a chance that these systems could eventually help determine insurance premiums or act as evidence in a court of law, for example.
Beyond this, ADDW technology can also be extremely annoying when implemented poorly.
I’ve lost count of how many times a system has warned me to pay attention when all I’m doing is trying to find a simple function in a bewildering series of touchscreen menus.
On the one hand, Euro NCAP says it will focus on “nuisance” security technology, but on the other, the European Union is demanding greater reliance on these systems. Now is a confusing time to be a motorist.
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