cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/tech/p/1247209/all-cars-sold-in-the-eu-now-require-a-camera-aimed-at-your-face-its-still-not-clear-wher
Starting July 7, 2026, every new car sold in the European Union must include a driver monitoring camera aimed at your face. Glance at your phone, your kids in the back seat, or the radio for too long, and the car will flash a warning light and sound an alert.
Automakers have known this was coming for years. What they, and EU regulators, have never spelled out is what happens to that footage after the alert goes off.
While the intention behind the new system is difficult to dispute, its implementation has raised several concerns. Early real-world testing suggests the distraction warnings can be overly sensitive and potentially distracting.
Seriously, the way things are going I’d be happy pouring more cash into a bucket of bolts than it’s worth just to keep it running. Mine is only a 2015 but I’m gonna keep up the maintenance because it was one of the last model years not to have an upgraded radio with the newer round of anti-features and spyware. I drive all of 20-40 miles a week. Not really worth buying a $50k car, is it?
My clunkers blue book value is $2,500. I just put $3,000 into it last month to keep it going.
I am in the privileged position of being able to afford the financial costs of a new car, but I can’t abide the privacy costs.
Agreed, the privacy costs of driving modern cars are absurd.
I was doing okay before AI replaced me. I wouldn’t have bought anything I couldn’t have paid for on the day of purchase but I’m glad that I didn’t because unemployed me has to drive even less than work-from-home me did. Pouring $3k into my car would hurt, but not as much as buying a $40k mobile babysitting device that’s going to surveil me everywhere I go.
Some states are trying to ban older cars right now. I know it is all over, but this is one place Blue states are torquing me off, because they seem to be the ones pushing some of this crap.
I lean left, but I have similar frustrations. There’s an authoritarian wing to both parties who think they can make rules for everyone else, but won’t subject themselves to the same rules. Will the data be collected from these politicians car cams the same way they want to spy on you and me? This is clearly about data and power and our leaders have shown time and time again that they’ll make moves to enrich themselves and then wrap the approval in something like climate change, save the kids, or some other cause that it barely touches on. I need my leaders to lead by example and live openly and honestly in a way most people don’t.
The politicians are the ones the cameras should always be pointed at.