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.
I dont like being constantly monitored. I dont want to normalize the lack of privacy.
my phones are pin or pattern only
I do a pass code, but yeah, no finger prints or shudders facial scans
Iphone SE’s didnt have face unlock but still use the IR camera to scan your face every second.
Just because you don’t use it doesn’t mean it’s not being used on you (apologies for breaking it to you)
Apologies for not using Apple products
Oh nah no need to apologise, their products haven’t been good for decades. Merely making a point about how tech can be entirely hidden from the user
I just learned about internetless TVs that build mesh networks until one TV is found that can access the internet… that sounds like infiltrating a WiFi network and should be illegal.
Edit: it’s not true, I learned today after being downvoted into oblivion 😭
Wait until you hear about the facial recognition and expression reading cameras built into the fast food ‘order here’ screens
Another place where I never go. I’m starting to feel proud about my decision making about now…
If it really was a low res camera that didn’t phone home, save data, and was difficult to hack into, for me personally the benefits would outweigh the (limited) privacy malus.
Everyone thinks they’re a good driver, but collisions still happen, and no one deserves to be killed by someone in a car.
If it was a closed circuit that had no way of sending info to anyone anywhere that would be one thing, but data is the new gold and, I dont trust governments or private businesses enough to give them access to a camera on me whenever I am driving.
Me neither. It’s a big if.
Then stay off public roads. Traffic lights, stop signs are just THE MAN telling us what to do.
What a false equivalence…