Cellebrite, the Israeli tech firm which helped the FBI hack the iPhone 5c at the heart of the San Bernardino shooting case, is reportedly working on a “textalyzer” device that will allow authorities to find out whether a person as unlawfully driving while using their smartphone.
The device would initially be used in New York, where proposed legislation may let law enforcement officials access certain cellphone information — without a warrant — to find out whether drivers are distracted at the wheel.
To get around the Fourth Amendment’s stated right to privacy, Cellebrite’s textalyzer will reportedly keep conversations, contacts, numbers, photos, and application data private; revealing only whether the phone was in use at the time.
The proposed law making this possible is called “Evan’s Law” after 19-year-old Evan Lieberman, who was killed by a distracted driver in New York in 2011. Lieberman’s father, Ben Lieberman, is co-founder of a lobbying group called Distracted Operators Risk Casualties (DORCs).
The bill is currently in committee in the New York State Senate. If the legislation passes, Cellebrite will have to bid on the project, alongside other firms.
Cellebrite was in the news again earlier this week after claims were made that it is “optimistic” about hacking the iPhone 6, just as it did previously with the less-secure iPhone 5c.
Apple, for its part, has continued to push its focus on the subject of user privacy and encryption, although it has also acknowledged that there will likely never be a point when its devices are completely uncrackable.
Source: Ars Technica
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
6 responses to “Texting behind the wheel? N.Y. cops may have the tech to find out”
Can this technology tell if I am texting versus using Siri to send a hands free text? No. Can technology tell the difference between a text and my cell phone pinging a cell tower to determine my location? Probably not. I hate to hear that someone has died, but if we want to save lives, why not just ban cars outright?
Nor could it tell if my wife responded to a text on my phone for me while I was driving.
Of course this is coming out of New York, the shining example of a nanny state. “Give us the power to monitor your phone usage, we swear it won’t be abused”
This bill shows a lack of understanding in how our technology works today and how out of touch our “elected” officials are with society and technology. This bill will only result in wrongful arrests and convictions which will lead to lost jobs, lost income, lost housing, increased poverty and crime.
Using the term “textalyzer” to associate this as similar to a breathalyzer is wrong. When you are drinking and driving there is no other way for the alcohol to have been put in your body unless you were drinking. It’s only a matter of determining how much alcohol. But with what this bill is trying to do anyone would be arrested and convicted if info collected (this is another concern I have) shows that the driver in an accident was texting but in this case, with this bill, the device is not tied to my body and pure I denial facts of someone being distracted or their inability to drive.
You see, with almost all new iPhones and Android phones there’s a voice activated feature (Hey Siri in iPhone & Ok Google on android) that allows you to control the phone to display maps or driving instructions, change the music, OR have a text read to you or reply to a text message. All while keeping your eyes on the road and hands on the wheel. These features are also baked into almost all of the newer cars featuring Apple CarPlay or Android Auto so a driver never has to touch his phone while driving.
This bill would criminalize everyone and attempt to arrest and convict with false information because the info collected during a scan (again, the info collection part is a HUGE concern) would VERY likely be inaccurate and subjecting citizens to this type of scan and treatment is against our own laws of “innocent until proven guilty”. This bill just like many others make all citizens “guilty until proven innocent” and this is why New York is the way it is.
Criminalizing distracted driving would then bring up accidents that happen while people are eating and driving, applying make up and driving, dealing with children in the car and driving, driving with pets not secured in the car, driving while attempting to look through a bag or something. Allow these things happen hundreds of thousands of times a day. If someone got into an accident it doesn’t always mean they were texting but now they would be automatically “required” to submit to a device scan (HUGE privacy concerns here) to determine whether they may have been texting but again they may have very well have sent or received a text but may have done so with just their voice which isn’t a crime. But they may have just accidentally spilled coffee while in traffic and now rear ended someone.
Things happen. I’m sure there are better ways to help crack down on texting and driving accidents without making every citizen with a phone a criminal and potentially ruining people’s lives with wrongful and EXPENSIVE convictions. Hey, even ELECTED officials can be distracted while in a car RIGHT? The funny thing is that most times elected officials end up above the law.
As I understand it, it would only be applied when there is an accident/incident.
At least that’s what they tell us up front…
Exactly! They will say anything to pass a law. In most cases they use public sentiment to get the law approved but no one bothers to look into exactly what the law is stripping away from them.