
In Europe, cars automatically call for help if they crash - whalabi
https://unlikekinds.com/article/ecall-eu-cars-emergency-call-privacy
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x38iq84n
Step by step towards 1984.

This should be optional, not mandatory technology for new cars. I don't want a
cellular module that reports its location in any of my cars, new or old, so
why is this being forced through?

The argument of improved safety is a poor one. You could use the same argument
to make 8 air bags mandatory minimum, demand that only 5-star rated cars can
be sold, that cars have ejection seats, tow a mobile clinic with a doctor and
a nurse, or about a million other things that would objectively improve car
safety but also make cars further unavailable to many people.

And this will get misused too. Today it may send location after a collision;
tomorrow's firmware update can easily change that. And once users have the
hardware, software features will follow.

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neilalexander
Merely playing devil's advocate here but I'm not entirely sure that a cellular
module that knows where you are is really any worse than having your mobile
phone in your pocket pinging off local cell towers or your number-plates being
seen by ANPR-enabled cameras road-side (of which there are probably a lot more
than we realise).

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x38iq84n
Everyone who has watched an episode of CSI: Anywhere knows this about mobile
phones. While you can turn off the phone or leave it behind easily, the same
cannot be done with a module built into the car.

~~~
neilalexander
That's a fair point, yeah.

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Philip_Woodman
Last year, there were 25,700 fatalities on EU roads and motorways. eCall is
expected to reduce emergency response time by 40 percent in built-up areas and
50 percent in the country, and it's believed the system could save as many as
2,500 lives each year. Sehnalova said eCall would also benefit tourists in the
EU, because "when you cross a border you have a language problem and often do
not even really know where you are." The vehicle's location is established
using satellite navigation systems such as Galileo — the European equivalent
of GPS.

