A proposed bill now in committee in the New York State Senate could give NY police officers the ability to plug smartphones into a ‘textalyzer’ following a motor vehicle accident. The device would read data from the phone to determine whether or not the driver had been texting or otherwise using the phone at the time of the crash.
ArsTechnica reports that Cellebrite, the Israeli company believed to have cracked the San Bernardino iPhone, is developing the technology required for the checks. Such checks without a warrant would normally violate the Fourth Amendment right to privacy, but Cellebrite believes it has a solution to that …
The textalyzer allegedly would keep conversations, contacts, numbers, photos, and application data private. It will solely say whether the phone was in use prior to a motor-vehicle mishap. Further analysis, which might require a warrant, could be necessary to determine whether such usage was via hands-free dashboard technology and to confirm the original finding.
The proposed law has been dubbed ‘Evan’s Law’ after lobbying by the father of 19-year-old Evan Lieberman, who was killed by a distracted driver in New York. It would mean that drivers would, by default, consent to the check of their phones. Any who refused would have their driver’s license suspended with immediate effect.
Cellebrite already offers a roadside device which allows access to the contents of unspecified models of smartphones, and indicates that the ‘textalyzer’ would be a less intrusive version which merely gives a yes/no answer as to whether or not the phone was in use at the time.
Using a smartphone while driving is a growing cause of crashes, especially among teenagers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that nine people a day are killed in distracted driving crashes, while a further 1,153 are injured.
An AAA road safety campaign on the issue last year shows real videos of teenage car crashes caused by smartphone use. In Britain, the government showed an extremely hard-hitting video aimed to show teenagers the dangers of texting while driving – something I’d recommend every parent have their teenage kids watch when they first start driving.
But while the cause may be good, Apple is unlikely to look kindly on the technology. Which iPhones the device will work with, and how long the vulnerability will remain, are key questions here.
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Don’t the carriers have logs? I don’t see the need for this.
Carriers would have logs for calls and texts, certainly, but not for all types of phone usage. I suspect ‘textalyser’ is being used here as shorthand for all types of phone use.
Yes they do have logs and cops would just go get them at the moment. I like this device: if the cops accused me of texting – and I had not – it would clear me right then. I would not have to wait weeks to see if I was in the clear. If I had been texting then I don’t think this would be enough for a court to jail me – the cops would still need the cellular provider logs before it would go to court.
No, it wouldn’t. What if you were texting with Siri or some other kind of voice control?
iMessage does not go through the carrier.
Good point.
iMessage is not carrier based.
I’m torn on whether or not to support this…If it would only be used for accidents then I’m fine with it, but the problem with police is you give them power and they’re just like Billy Idol..They cry “more more more” — so I would not be shocked if they were using it on ppl pulled over for speeding, and all it would take is “I saw you looking down while driving” — even if the person wasn’t using their phone, it’s the cop’s word against theirs…In NY driving while texting is like a minimum 250$ fine, so don’t tell me the police wouldn’t have an incentive to lie….Not to mention, what if someone texted with Siri or some other kind of voice control app? Also who is going to trust the police to not download everything else on the phone? OK…After thinking this through a bit more I absolutely do not support this at all. Heh. If you want what’s on the phone get a warrant.
$250 a ticket so cops have incentive to lie? Do they get a cut of the fine? Is it 50%?
It is money given to the town / city courts, I don’t know how they distribute it or what they use it for. I’ve been accused of texting simply for driving a manual transmission car and having my “hand in the center console” while driving (I was shifting gears!).
luckydcxx – Cops have an incentive. Ticket revenue feeds general fund. A healthy general fund buys the toys and training they depend on as well as shores up pension liabilities for city employees (including PD).
I’m sure it will not reed texts.
I trust the US government after all.
Ha! Ha! Priceless.
Problem? Let’s make a law. Problem solved. /s
Cellebrite rocks! Particularly pleased they are based outside the US so that it would be more difficult for a rich US corporation like Apple to bully them.
Like it says – prosecution may well need further information e.g. data from the cellular provider.
In the UK, at the moment the cops would just go to the cellular provider. It occurs to me that if the cops accused of texting while driving – and you hadn’t – it would clear you at the road side, whereas to convict you would still need more evidence. Pretty much the same as if they think you have been drink driving. That sounds good to me.
Will Apple be so irresponsible as to block this just to sell a few more phones??
They seem to be happy protecting dead terrorists, drug dealers etc Maybe they will want to extend this protection to drivers who have just killed people.
Lets see.
Not sure if your serious or just trolling… You seem to be suggesting that Apple is protecting terrorism vs. protecting freedom and ignoring the fact that Apple has a long standing history of working with law enforcement in multiple countries, but surely you’re not doing that…
Marc, John has one thing positive I will say about him. He is consistent.
Consistent in his “Apple is evil – Government is good” stance.
Consistency is great, unless you’re consistently bad. This is bad.
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words, and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day.
Ralph Waldo Emerson,
Doug – such a great comment. One thing that irks me is, particularly in the political news and such, is the term “flip-flop” – It is now a negative to have a change of opinion. Like, somehow, learning more about an issue, and being open to the fact that you may not be right, is somehow now a sign of weakness, when I view it as evolved, and a show of strength.
The government is great, what are you talking about…John Smith is a hero among online commenters!
It’s not like the NSA illegally hacked into the private clouds of Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Yahoo, etc. without asking, right?
No way, they wouldn’t do that. That was like North Korea or China or something. We’re better than that, right?
It’s not like they also collected “metadata” on hundreds of millions of Americans outside of the law, purposefully going around congress…right?
It’s not like this program was found to be ILLEGAL in federal court, right?
“Further analysis, which might require a warrant, could be necessary to determine whether such usage was via hands-free dashboard technology and to confirm the original finding.”
So guilty until proven innocent? I listen to Audible, Podcasts, Music while driving – All from my iPhone via bluetooth. So chances are, any time my phone was checked, it would say “yes” and then they would need a warrant.
Does this technology know that I pressed the track button on my steering wheel, and not the iPhone itself?
Not even sure how this data would be gathered from the device without a hack.
I agree that we have a problem to address, and that people are trying to address them. Sadly, I don’t think the government officials and law enforcement anywhere have mentally caught up with the advancements of technology. Not trying to insult them or anyone, or imply they are unintelligent, it’s just that they are not technologists, they are not the types of organizations that attract the best and brightest technologists, and their behavior and view of technology shows this.
Same thing for Public Schools here in the States. They all want to be “technology based” but never want to pay what it really will cost to get something implemented well.
It will take likely 20-30 years before those in government/law enforcement have enough technology experience to make sane choices.
The guilty-until-proven-innocent thing has become more popular in the United States than many would care to admit. There have been plenty of cases where cash has been seized by local or federal law enforcement as ill-gotten gains, that then required the people to prove that the money was from legitimate sources. And we’re not talking about convicted felons here, these are business owners and private individuals that had no criminal history but did something that triggered suspicion (depositing just under $10,000 in case into their bank, traveling with several thousand dollars in a vehicle, etc.)
Funny story…I drive a 6-spd manual transmission coupe. I was pulled over once, and the cop was CONVINCED I was texting or hiding drugs or something.
“What are you doing grabbing around in the center there with your right hand, I saw you the whole time, why are you only driving with one hand on the wheel?”
I’m like uh sir, I have a manual transmission, I was shifting…
He just would NOT accept that as an explanation, he had to be right, and I had to be wrong. Talk about guilty until proven innocent.
I don’t even know why he pulled me over to tell the truth, he didn’t even give me a ticket, lol.
What kind of device do I get to carry when I see a Cop texting and driving? Because I see that happening. Of course that’s ok (much like speeding and over driving traffic in non-emergency conditions) when they do it. We have no recourse but to watch, get pi$$ed off and have disdain for law enforcement. Try to stop one to call them out or give a citizens citation (if that even exists anymore) and you are likely to be cited for interfering with police business or worse. Unfortunately “we the people” don’t have a good old boy system, or thin blue line.
I’m all for law enforcement, but laws have to be respected and law enforcement need to lead by example and not above them. This is just not the case.
You should understand the vehicle and traffic law before you start writing “citizen citations”
Look up NYS VTL 1225c 3b.
OK, but why are you assuming he lives in NY?
It’s the same in every state. Different code for different VTL
I don’t live in NY but what’s your point? This only makes mine. They are “built in” above the law. How convenient that no one can question there use of a cell phone for “official duties” because we can’t hack THEIR phones on the side of the road. And I DID say IF it exists. Of course it doesn’t. They are above the laws.
From your suggested law excerpt:
3. Subdivision one of this section shall not apply to (a) the use of a portable electronic device for the sole purpose of communicating with any of the following regarding an emergency situation: an emergency response operator; a hospital; a physician’s office or health clinic; an ambulance company or corps; a fire department, district or company; or a police department, (b) any of the following persons while in the performance of their official duties: a police officer or peace officer; a member of a fire department, district or company; or the operator of an authorized emergency vehicle as defined in section one hundred one of this chapter.
Don’t ever try that. I once tried to call a cop out who was speeding without his siren on and on talking on his cell phone, he said he was responding to an emergency, and he got EXTREMELY mad at me for trying to question him, kind of gave me the “Who the fuck do you think you are to question ME!?” attitude.
Exactly my point.
Well, to be fair, they are allowed to do whatever they want, pretty much, when it comes to the road. All they have to say is they were responding to a call. I agree it’s BS but we actually do need them to be able to respond to calls and such :D
How would you differentiate dictation to send a text while driving? It would be seen as as a regular text on your phone. The Freedom to Communicate bill from 2012 in California allowed for this as long as you don’t touch your phone (not sure if there’s anything newer to counter that bill, or if there’s anything in NY that explicitly says anything against dictation). Major point here being that there should be no need for this, other than making it easier for law enforcement to violate Fourth Amendment rights or subverting protections against self-incrimination.
I don’t think iPhone owners, and likely Android, has to worry for the fact that I can text with my voice via hands-free or an Apple Watch. Again, serve your warrant to the carrier and stop invading privacy.
So here is the biggest problem with this (and maybe our intelligent 9to5ers who think this is great can answer this): once you detect that the person “used their phone prior to the accident” EXACTLY how do you know that “SIRI” wasn’t the one texting, opening an app, changing the music, etc etc?
^This. What if I had GPS navigation running on my phone at the time? Wouldn’t that also show up in a yes/no scenario as a “use” which would then allow full warrant access to my phone. I fail to see how this wouldn’t snowball into an all out invasion of privacy.
So is this tool going to tell them if any texting was done via CarPlay?
Or watch for that matter. I’m allowed to talk to my watch if I want to, can’t help it my phone heard my conversation and forwarded it to someone else.
Distracted Driving – texting, speaking on the phone, watching video on the phone, etc. What about Eating while driving; Drinking a hot beverage while driving, Applying make up or finishing your hair style while driving; Yelling at the kids in the back seat while driving; Reading the newspaper while driving, etc.
There are a plethora of reasons that people are distracted while driving – not all of them involve your phone!
While I do support cutting down on distracted driving (especially texting) – let’s look at ALL the reasons and not just come up with the easy one that leaves an electronics footprint that gives LEOs the right top look at my phone! Let the cops pay attention to the drivers around them and look for all the forms of “Distracted Driving.” Many drivers are idiots – they forget they are controlling a very lethal 3,000 pound missile at highway speeds.
Well said.
Drunk driving laws are not harsh enough. They go after phones and texting while driving cause it’s easier and easy money for tickets. Like speeding and speed traps. Easy money. My wife and I were driving on a major interstate near our home. We saw a very intoxicated driver at full highway speeds and almost cause several accidents. We called 911 and followed him for almost 45 mins being told an officer was on the way. Finally he got off at an exit and was gone. No LEO ever showed and I’m sure the person got away. I can’t believe there was no officer within 30/45 minutes of our location. IMO, it wasn’t a priority.
The good thing is when we have self-driving cars in a few years, we won’t even need these ridiculous laws anymore.
I for one look forward to my future Apple robot car :)
89p13 – exactly, but also, just because a distraction is present, doesn’t mean you are distracted. That’s an assumption and a leap of logic. A=B, B=C, so A must = C. I’ve had moments when I’ve been distracted by nothing more than a daydream. I’ve had other moments when I was hyper focused on driving and was also texting at the same time. Sometimes the two shall meet, but not always. It usually depends if you recognize the priority, and the priority should always be driving.
Presently, drunk driving is essentially a secondary offense. No cop pulls you over because you were drunk driving. They pull you over because you were failing to maintain lane position or another infraction of the rules of the road. Distractions should be the same way – if you notice an infraction, then when you pull me over for that first infraction, we can talk (if I choose) about other things. Distraction tickets as a primary offense are a farce. Grr…
Why do we even bother with the US Constitution anymore? A clear attack on the 4th Amendment to the USC and it is still being considered?
I used to be a “Constitutionalist” myself until I found out people are using that as an excuse more recently to justify discriminating against LGBT people :|
Guess it cuts both ways, unfortunately. What I’m trying to say is, the Constitution is not perfect.
“It will solely say whether the phone was in use prior to a motor-vehicle mishap.” … including e.g. for navigation? Sounds like a foolproof plan.
A lawyer will simply get the case thrown out based on a timestamp mismatch.
Making things illegal has never stopped people from doing it and you will never stop people from using their phones while driving. The real answer is to start clearing the legal pathway for autonomous cars on public roads in every state and federal funding for advancing the technology. With one piece of technology we can reduce injuries and deaths from distracted driving, drunk driving, speeding, and just plain BAD driving. Humans have always been terrible drivers and will always be terrible drivers.
Could someone please tell me again how we’re not living in a police state?
PS: Apple needs to throw as much money as they can at cellebrite to buy them out. I’m sure their expertise would be quite valuable to Apple.
Seems like a better use of time to figure out laws around driverless cars, so we can eliminate *all* accidents on the road.
This just seems like an invasion of privacy, and could produce a lot of false positives. Was my message sent via Siri hands free or by typing? Through CarPlay or on my phone? How much use of the phone constitutes as a “distraction?”.
Plus, just like the laws around texting and driving now, this won’t stop anyone from doing it. We need to get our laws updated to accommodate the driverless cars that will on the market with in the next 2-3 years. Only than can we make travel by car significantly safer.
Often my wife texts using my phone while I’m driving.
Otherwise, phone is in the glovebox, connected to CarPlay of course, and all messages are dictated.
Sort of unrelated, but the US government situation is starting to bother me. I don’t live there but it’s looking like the land of the free isn’t going to be so free for much longer.
I sadly agree with your assessment. Politicians have made politics their career. And we allow many to far outstay their welcome. As a result, we get grossly uninformed people representing us.
You should see the reply I recently got from my senator. Grossly misstated facts and some outright lies. Waiting for her response to me calling her out. I anticipate it will be in the form of an IRS Audit
But… it’s not illegal to dictate to siri a message. How will they know if the message was dictated or was manually written?
http://www.startribune.com/with-photos-and-videos-police-push-for-evidence-to-catch-texting-drivers/375913271/?ref=nl