THE STATEWIDE BALLOT, IT’S BEEN HEAVILY CONTESTED.
IT HAS THE COMPANIES THAT MAKE AUTOMOBILES FIGHTING AGAINST THE COMPANIES THAT REPAIR THEM.
YOU’LL ALSO HEAR IT REFERRED TO SOMETIMES AS RIGHT TO REPAIR, BUT TECHNICALLY THIS BALLOT WOULD AMEND AN EARLIER RIGHT TO REPAIR LAW.
THAT BRINGS US TO OUR FIRST QUESTION.
IF RIGHT TO REPAIR ALREADY PASSED, HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT?
RIGHT TO REPAIR DID PASS AND WENT INTO LAW IN 2013.
VEHICLES WERE BECOMING MORE COMPUTERIZED THEN AND RIGHT TO REPAIR MADE SURE INDEPENDENT MECHANICS WERE ABLE TO ACCESS YOUR VEHICLE’S DATA TO HELP FIND OUT WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THE IT.
-- WITH IT.
THEY ACCESS THAT DATA STORED IN YOUR CAR THROUGH THIS DEVICE CALLED AN OBD2 PORT AND IT’S PRETTY MUCH STANDARD IN ALL VEHICLES NOW.
SO WHAT’S DIFFERENT ABOUT THIS BALLOT QUESTION?
VEHICLES ARE BEGINNING TO WIRELESSLY TRANSMIT A LOT OF THE DATA THAT WAS ONCE STORED IN YOUR CAR.
AND QUESTION 1 IS ABOUT VEHICLE OWNERS AND THEIR CHOSEN MECHANIC GETTING ACCESS TO THAT WIRELESS DATA.
SO WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF QUESTION 1 PASSES?
IT WOULD UPDATE THE 2013 LAW TO INCLUDE LANGUAGE.
THAT WOULD REQUIRE AUTOMAKERS TO SHARE THAT WIRELESS DATA.
THEY’D HAVE TO MAKE AN APP THAT WOULD LET VEHICLE OWNERS AND MECHANICS ACCESS MECHANICAL DATA.
THAT BRINGS US TO ANOTHER QUESTION, CAN MY LOCAL MECHANIC FIX MY CAR IF QUESTION 1 DOES NOT PASS?
RIGHT NOW, MECHANICS DON’T REALLY NEED THAT WIRELESS DATA SO THE ANSWER IS YES FOR NOW.
BUT THE CONCERN IS THAT AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE THAT VEHICLE DATA WILL ONLY BE TRANSMITTED WIRELESSLY SO INDEPENDENT MECHANICS WON’T BE ABLE TO FIX YOUR CAR WITHOUT QUESTION 1.
THE SIDE THAT OPPOSES QUESTION 1 SAYS MECHANICS ALREADY HAVE THE ACCESS TO WHAT THEY NEED BUT CONSUMER ADVOCATES WE TALKED TO SAY THAT’S NOT REALLY THE CASE.
>> A SEXUAL PREDATOR COULD USE THE DATA TO STOCK THEIR VICTIMS.
>> WILL MY PERSONAL SAFETY BE AT RISK IF IT PASSES?
FOR STARTERS, THE LANGUAGE SAYS THAT THE CHEMICAL DATA MUST BE SHARED.
NOTHING ELSE.
THAT MEANS DATA NEEDED FOR THE DIAGNOSIS, REPAIR OR MAINTENANCE OF THE VEHICLE, LIKE GPS DATA OR INFORMATION FROM A PHONE THAT HAS BEEN CONNECTED.
IT ALSO TALKS ABOUT HACKERS TAKING OVER YOUR CAR.
>> >> IT’S NOT IMPOSSIBLE EVEN WITHOUT QUESTION 1 BUT TECHNOLOGY EXPERTS WE TALKED TO SAY THE BEST WAY TO MAKE COMPUTER SYSTEMS MORE SECURE IS TO OPEN
UP THE SOFTWARE PLATFORMS TO RESEARCHERS WHO DO THEIR OWN SECURITY CHECKS.
HERE’S HOW ONE TECH SECURITY EXPERT DESCRIBED IT.
>> SECURITY IS IMPROVED WHEN SOFTWARE CAN BE EVALUATED BY RESEARCHERS.
AND FOR THAT TO BE TRUE, IT HAS TO BE AVAILABLE TO THEM.
SO THE SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS IN MICROSOFT’S OPERATING SYSTEMS IN ANDROID AND IPHONE, ALL OF THOSE ARE BECAUSE RESEARCHERS FIND VULNERABILITIES AND THEY’RE FIXED, AND WE LEARN FROM THEM.
>> THAT RAISES ANOTHER QUESTION.
WHAT KIND OF DATA IS BEING COLLECTED ANYWAY?
THAT’S SOMETHING THAT CONSUMER ADVOCATES AND INDEPENDENT EXPERTS REALLY DON’T LIKE , WHETHER IT INVOLVES VEHICLES OR SMART PHONES.
HERE’S TECHNOLOGY SECURITY EXPERT BRUCE SCHNEIER AGAIN.
>> THERE’S AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF DATA COMING OUT OF YOUR CAR.
AND THAT DATA IS YOUR DATA.
IT’S YOUR CAR.
AND YOU SHOULD HAVE ACCESS TO IT.
YOU SHOULD DECIDE WHO GETS IT.
IT SHOULDN’T BE THAT THE AUTO MANUFACTURER WHO SOLD YOU THE CAR GETS TO GRAB YOUR DATA FOR FREE.
USE IT.
SELL IT.
USE IT TO INFLUENCE YOU.
TO MARKET TO YOU.
IT’S REALLY A QUESTION OF, WHOSE DATA IS IT?
IS IT YOURS OR IS IT THE AUTO MANUFACTURERS?
>> IF QUESTION 1 PASSES DEALERS WILL HAE TO DISCLOSE TO CUSTOMERS WHAT DATA THE VEHICLE THEY’RE BUYING OR LEASING WILL COLLECT, AND THEY’LL FACE FINES IF THEY DON'