Driver Privacy Act

Driver Privacy Act - Declares that any data retained by a motor vehicle's event data recorder (as defined in Department of Transportation [DOT] regulations) is the property of the owner or lessee of the motor vehicle in which the recorder is installed, regardless of when the vehicle was manufactured.

Prohibits a person, other than the owner or lessee of the motor vehicle, from accessing data recorded or transmitted by such a recorder unless: (1) a court or other judicial or administrative authority authorizes the retrieval of such data subject to admissibility of evidence standards; (2) an owner or lessee provides written or electronic consent to such retrieval for any purpose, including vehicle diagnosis, service, or repair; (3) the data is retrieved pursuant to certain authorized investigations or inspections of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) or DOT; (4) the data is retrieved to determine the appropriate emergency medical response to a motor vehicle crash; or (5) the data is retrieved for traffic safety research.

Prohibits, when data is retrieved in connection with traffic safety research or an NTSB or DOT investigation or inspection, the disclosure of: (1) personally identifiable information of the vehicle owner or lessee, and (2) the vehicle identification number (VIN). Provides an exemption from such prohibition to allow disclosure of VINs to certifying manufacturers.

Directs the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), after completing a study and submitting a report to Congress, to promulgate regulations concerning the amount of time event data recorders installed in passenger motor vehicles should capture and record vehicle-related data in conjunction with an event in order to provide sufficient information to investigate the cause of crashes.

[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1925 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 1925

   To limit the retrieval of data from vehicle event data recorders.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 14, 2014

  Mr. Hoeven (for himself, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Manchin, Mr. 
Kirk, Mr. Isakson, Mr. Johanns, Mr. Chambliss, Mr. Hatch, Mr. King, Mr. 
Bennet, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Begich, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Coons, Mr. Portman, Mr. 
 Franken, and Mr. Thune) introduced the following bill; which was read 
     twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                             Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To limit the retrieval of data from vehicle event data recorders.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Driver Privacy Act''.

SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON DATA RETRIEVAL FROM VEHICLE EVENT DATA 
              RECORDERS.

    (a) Ownership of Data.--Any data in an event data recorder required 
under part 563 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, regardless of 
when the passenger motor vehicle in which it is installed was 
manufactured, is the property of the owner, or, in the case of a leased 
vehicle, the lessee of the passenger motor vehicle in which the event 
data recorder is installed.
    (b) Privacy.--Data recorded or transmitted by an event data 
recorder described in subsection (a) may not be accessed by a person 
other than the owner or lessee of the motor vehicle in which the event 
data recorder is installed unless--
            (1) a court or other judicial or administrative authority 
        having jurisdiction--
                    (A) authorizes the retrieval of the data; and
                    (B) to the extent that there is retrieved data, the 
                data is subject to the standards for admission into 
                evidence required by that court or other administrative 
                authority;
            (2) all of the owners or lessees of the motor vehicle 
        provide informed written consent to the retrieval of the data 
        for any purpose, including the purpose of diagnosing, 
        servicing, or repairing the motor vehicle;
            (3) the data is retrieved pursuant to an investigation or 
        inspection authorized under section 1131(a) or 30166 of title 
        49, United States Code, and the personally identifiable 
        information of the owner or lessee of the vehicle and the 
        vehicle identification number is not disclosed in connection 
        with the retrieved data;
            (4) the data is retrieved for the purpose of determining 
        the need for, or facilitating, emergency medical response in 
        response to a motor vehicle crash; or
            (5) the data is retrieved for traffic safety research, and 
        the personally identifiable information of the owner or lessee 
        of the vehicle and the vehicle identification number is not 
        disclosed in connection with the retrieved data.
    (c) Limitation on Data Retrieval.--Data from an event data recorder 
may only be accessed pursuant to subsection (b) to the extent that such 
data was recorded in conjunction with an event (as defined in section 
563.5 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations).

SEC. 3. VEHICLE EVENT DATA RECORDER STUDY.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the National Highway 
Traffic Safety Administration shall submit a report to Congress that 
contains the results of a study conducted by the Administrator to 
determine the amount of time event data recorders installed in 
passenger motor vehicles should capture and record for retrieval 
vehicle-related data in conjunction with an event in order to provide 
sufficient information to investigate the cause of motor vehicle 
crashes.
    (b) Rulemaking.--Not later than 1 year after submitting the report 
required under subsection (a), the Administrator shall promulgate 
regulations to establish the appropriate period during which event data 
recorders installed in passenger motor vehicles may capture and record 
for retrieval vehicle-related data to the time necessary to provide 
accident investigators with vehicle-related information pertinent to 
crashes involving such motor vehicles.
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