June 24, 2003 BEHIND THE WHEEL A Key Witness at Crash Scenes: the Black Box Helping investigators reconstruct accidents, data recorders are not just for jets anymore. But their use has raised privacy concerns. ... Most other car makers also use this technology. But GM, and now Ford Motor Co., decided to allow others access to the data. In 2000, Santa Barbara-based Vetronix Corp. began selling a data-retrieval system that enables insurance and accident investigators to download data recorder information. The California Highway Patrol and 10 other law enforcement departments in the state have the retrieval systems, which cost about $2,500. ... Jon Cherney, an Irvine police investigator, used data recorder information to catch a Rancho Palos Verdes man in a recent hit-and-run collision. Although the man had denied being involved in the accident, Cherney said the recorder from his impounded car showed it had been in an accident in the same time period. The case is pending, he said. ... Recently, a consumer variant of the black box has become available. The device, marketed to parents of teens, emits beeps and other noises when a driver exceeds 70 mph, takes a turn too quickly or doesn't wear a seat belt. Devices installed by car makers don't record such regular driving details. Who actually owns the data recorder information is a central question in the debate over whether it represents an invasion of drivers' privacy. "Your car effectively spies on you," said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a civil liberties group based in Washington, D.C. "It's a little like having the guy from Allstate in the back seat of your car." <snip> http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-wheel24jun24235621,1,7942363.story?c...