The open road has long been a symbol of American freedom. A law to require 24/7 monitoring of drivers and the ability to stop their cars could soon change that.
Passed as part of the 2021 infrastructure package, U.S. federal law now mandates that future vehicles include “advanced drunk and impaired driving prevention technology” that will “passively monitor the performance of a driver of a motor vehicle to accurately identify whether that driver may be impaired.” The technology must also “prevent or limit motor vehicle operation if an impairment is detected.” Recent news reports that it is likely to go into effect in 2027.
In practical terms, this means that a camera will be pointed at you every moment you spend in your own car. It will record your every move – your eye movements, how tense or relaxed your body is, your facial expressions, how tightly you grip your steering wheel, etc. (not to mention your private conversations). All driving patterns and geolocation history recorded. Anything your body language might betray: recorded. Excited for a date? Anxious about a meeting? Sad about the outcome of a conversation? All documented, with no retention limits on the data. The biometric data collected is information about yourself that you cannot change. You can change your passwords or, in extreme cases, your Social Security number. You cannot change the iris patterns in your eyes.
Every personal car will come with a “kill switch” – a mechanism to limit or stop the car from operating. Ostensibly this is to prevent DUIs. But there is nothing to limit other ways the kill switch can be used.
Whatever politicians are holding power at any given moment could easily use the kill switch to enforce behavior affecting policies such as energy-use limits. More sinisterly, it presents a way to keep people away from certain locations or to punish “objectionable speech.”
Given that personal vehicles are the main mode of transportation for most Americans, the kill switch introduces a very easy way to restrict almost an entire population’s movement. The recent COVID-19 pandemic reminds us that this may not be a hypothetical fear. Additionally, it could be used to prevent political activity in certain areas.
Even worse, it could be used to punish individuals for their personal behavior. “The walls have ears” is a warning that silences dissent in many authoritarian regimes. As Americans are surveilled more and more, this not only adds to that, but it provides a devastatingly effective threat: speak out, and be trapped, unable to go to work or drive a family member to the hospital. (Remember, this system will instantly know who the passengers are if a friend tries to help in such a scenario.)
The potential abuses do not stop with the First Amendment. This law is a violation of the privacy protections of the Fourth Amendment; by unilaterally making the decision to halt a private vehicle, it fringes on the due process rights of the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Amendments.
Even in the absence of a government likely to abuse it, this system still puts Americans at risk. Data brokers will immediately start buying and selling this information to anyone with a credit card – a nightmare scenario for domestic abuse victims. Foreign adversaries will have an opportunity to try to hack the system, creating a scenario where the CCP could have control of American cars as they drive. Nor does there need to be intentional malice involved. A misreading of the driver’s body language during a tense or dangerous situation could result in their car being immobilized as they attempt to flee from danger.
The goal of ending impaired driving is admirable, but Americans should not be asked to choose between their safety and their constitutional rights.
Molly Powell is a Senior Regulations Policy Analyst.
