WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) joined Senators John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) on Tuesday in introducing the Driver Privacy Act, legislation that protects a driver’s personal privacy by making it clear that the owner of a vehicle is also the owner of any information collected by an event data recorder (EDR).

“Americans’ privacy rights need to keep pace with their technology,” Senator Coons said. “Automobiles’ event data recorders can be very useful safety tools, but they can also expose drivers to privacy invasions. We need to ensure that Americans’ privacy is protected when using these devices, and this bipartisan legislation will go a long way toward doing that.”

An EDR has the ability to continuously collect at least 45 pieces of information about a vehicle’s operation that can be retrieved at any time. This includes direction, speed, seatbelt usage and other data. The legislation would ensure that the vehicle owner controls the data to protect personal privacy.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that more than 96 percent of new 2013 car models are currently equipped with an EDR, but in December 2012 the agency proposed rules that would mandate the installation of EDRs in all light-duty vehicles. The proposal raised widespread questions and concerns regarding the ownership of the data that the legislation attempts to address.

Fourteen states have passed laws related to EDRs, including Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington. These state laws, however, apply only in the states that have them; drivers are unprotected in states that do not. To address privacy concerns regarding the device, the legislation specifies that data from an EDR may not be retrieved in any state unless:

  • Authorized by a court of law;
  • The vehicle owner or lessee consents to the data retrieval;
  • The information is retrieved pursuant to a NHTSA recall and all personally identifiable information is not disclosed;
  • The information is retrieved in determining the need for emergency medical response following a motor vehicle crash (used in vehicles equipped with Advanced Automatic Crash Notification systems); and
  • The information is retrieved for traffic safety research.

Additional cosponsors of the bill include Senators Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Angus King (I-Maine), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Michael Bennet (D-Col.), Mike Johanns (R-Neb.), Mazie Hirano (D-Hawaii), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), and Rob Portman (R-Ohio).