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[ColdPizza]

If you're one of the many who text, read email or view Facebook on your phone while driving, be warned: Police in your community may soon have a tool for catching you red-handed.

The new "textalyzer" technology is modeled after the Breathalyzer, and would determine if you had been using your phone illegally on the road.

Lawmakers in New York and a handful of other cities and states are considering allowing police to use the device to crack into phones because, they say, too many people get away with texting and driving and causing crashes.

"Phone records — as I found out the hard way — they're tough to get [and] it's an agonizing process," says Ben Lieberman of New Castle, N.Y., whose 19-year-old son was killed in a car crash in the Hudson Valley, north of New York City, in 2011.

The driver of the car his son Evan was in drifted over the center line and hit another vehicle head-on. Evan, who was sitting in the back seat with his seat belt on, suffered massive internal injuries and died a month later.

The driver initially told police he dozed off while driving, but in reality he had been texting behind the wheel. It took Lieberman six months to figure that out.

"Astonishingly, the phone was in the car, wrecked in the car, and it was at a tow yard," he says. "It was there for weeks — it was just sitting there."

Lieberman says police couldn't check the driver's phone to see if he was lying because they needed probable cause to get a warrant.

"We often hear, 'just get a warrant' or 'just get the phone records.' ... The implication is that the warrant is like filling out some minor form," he says. "It's not. In New York, it involves a D.A. and a judge. Imagine getting a D.A. and a judge involved in every breathalyzer that's administered, every sobriety test that's administered."

Lieberman filed a civil lawsuit to subpoena the phone records, which showed the driver had been texting before the crash. But even getting the phone records won't tell you much, he says. "It doesn't detect any of the important distractions, like email, social media or Web browsing."

So even though New York and most other states ban texting and other kinds of cellphone use while driving, Lieberman says those laws are difficult to enforce.

"The takeaway is, our current law is a joke," he says.

Lieberman — along with the advocacy group he co-founded — has been working with a company called Cellebrite to develop a "textalyzer." It would be able to determine whether a driver illegally was using a phone in the moments before a crash.

Cellebrite engineer Lee Papathanasiou demonstrated the device for lawmakers and reporters at the New York State Capitol in Albany earlier this week.

He says a police officer just goes to the driver and attaches a cord to connect the device to the phone. The driver doesn't even have to let go of the device.

"They can simply just tap one button ... and it will process, about 90 seconds or so, and it will show what the last activities were — again that could be a text message and so on — with a time stamp," Papathanasiou says.

The device would display a summary of what apps on the phone were open and in use, he says, as well as screen taps and swipes. "For example, if it was a WhatsApp message, or a call, it will indicate what the source was, the time stamp, and then what the direction of the communication was — so if it was an outgoing call versus an incoming call."

Papathanasiou says the technology still isn't fully developed, but would be tailored to what's legal in each jurisdiction that approves its use. And he insists that the textalyzer would only capture taps and swipes to determine if a driver was using the phone — that it would not download content — and that it would be able to tell if the driver was using a phone legally, hands-free.

But some privacy advocates and civil libertarians are wary.

"Distracted driving is a serious concern, but this bill gives police power to take and search our phones after almost every fender-bender," says Rashida Richardson, legislative counsel for the New York Civil Liberties Union. "This is a concern because our phones have some of our most personal and private information — so we're certain that if this law is enforced as it is proposed, it will not only violate people's privacy rights, but also civil liberties."

Traffic fatalities nationwide are on the rise, with close to 40,000 across the country last year, an increase of 6 percent. With a significant number of those fatalities attributed in part to distractions from phones, safety advocates — including Debbie Hersman, who heads the National Safety Council — say this could be big.

"The textalyzer is going to be a game-changer when it comes to handheld devices and potentially even in-vehicle systems," Hersman says. "It will be the Breathalyzer of our electronics."

http://www.npr.org/sections/alltech...urb-distracted-driving-but-what-about-privacy

http://www.wgrz.com/news/local/new-york/new-york-may-be-first-to-legalize-textalyzer/438625054

 

[Patrick S.]

Big Brother is reading you.

 

[Diprosalic]

texting while driving should mean you lose your license for at least 1 year.
not a fan of looking through your phone though.

 

[BetterThanNothing]

Eye tracking software comes next. We saw you looking at the radio when this wreck happened. Drive a car: be recorded.

The crime of any individual does not grant the authorities to remove the right to privacy to the public.

 

[ColdPizza]

texting while driving should mean you lose your license for at least 1 year.
not a fan of looking through your phone though.

I'm kind of more worried or corner cases where the technology doesn't get it right. What if your passenger is on your phone texting for you? Will the device be able to determine if you're using a hands-free service?

 

[Veritigo_X]

I'd like to reduce accidents caused by texting and driving too, but I don't think allowing police to search through our phones without a warrant is the way to do it. Stuff like Android Auto or CarPlay seem like better solutions with their voice recognition.

 

[TheMink]

What about using maps and stuff? I have apple car play and can text via voice dictation without using my hands and eyes. How does it know I didn't just do that?

 

[SecretMoblin]

I'm kind of more worried or corner cases where the technology doesn't get it right. What if your passenger is on your phone texting for you? Will the device be able to determine if you're using a hands-free service?

yep, there are way too many problems with this to make it a viable solution to the (very big) problem of texting and driving.

plus, it further allows police to profile people at traffic stops -- what if the officer sees a "quran quote of the day" app or a gay hookup app or whatever and is having a bad day?

I get that proving texting while driving can be tricky but it doesn't need wholesale retooling of civil liberties to resolve the issue.

 

[TK-421]

I'm assuming this won't work with iPhones unless you unlock it. So who would voluntarily do that and potentially incriminate themselves?

 

[Trojita]

Lieberman says police couldn't check the driver's phone to see if he was lying because they needed probable cause to get a warrant.

I feel bad for this grieving father, but there is a reason warrants and probably cause exist.

 

[hydrophilic attack]

woh wuld ever txt whil drivving

 

[MikeRahl]

I've seen this bandied about a few times now.

Is this actually a piece of software that is out there or something that someone decided would be 'awesome' to do. Can someone hook a usb cord up to my phone and immediately dump all the information out of it and my phone is super OK with that?

How does it differentiate between manual actions, and hands free options? Calling with blue tooth, speech to text, using vehicle controls etc.

 

[Random Painted HIghway]

Hmm so the theory is basically the same as requiring field sobriety tests when go suspected dwi and if refuse automatic suspension or impugning guilt? Expanding the license requirements to require cooperation? Going to be difficult to craft this with the speed of technology not to mention privacy concerns. Seems like a great way to make.money forms product that will never be as effective as advertised.

 

[ColdPizza]

will this kill the phone navigation market?

 

[bjork]

Eye tracking software comes next. We saw you looking at the radio when this wreck happened. Drive a car: be recorded.

The crime of any individual does not grant the authorities to remove the right to privacy to the public.

I want a self driving car so I can just sleep.

 

[Veritigo_X]

will this kill the phone navigation market?

More like the other way around.

 

[Ashhong]

The OP specifically claims that no data is downloaded. Whether that's true or not remains to be seen. It seems like it somehow downloads taps and swipes, which would mean voice control will be fine. Don't know how it would determine if you or a passenger was on the phone.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Since everything is sandboxed on iOS, how would this even work?

 

[Jarmel]

This feels like it will be a privacy issue.

 

[Ceres]

Couldn't you just delete your texts?

Edit: nevermind, see the part about it telling what apps you were using. Not sure that'd be possible on iOS

 

[Trojita]

The name of this device is reminding me of the anime Texhnolyze lol

 

[ViciousDS]

so what happens if I use spotify and control it from my steering wheel which is what I currently do?


That device is going to detect that inputs were made

 

[SugarDaddy]

Sounds fucked, how do I prove it was my friend/bf who was using my phone when I said "hey, can you text __________ and let them know we're on our way?"

Do you just not use it if there are passengers in the car? I don't get how you get around that

 

[HawksWinStanley]

I text with Siri all the time and my eyes never leave the road...so what now? I just can't do that either?

 

[pantsmith]

Since everything is sandboxed on iOS, how would this even work?

Right? And whats to stop Apple from breaking/banning the software interaction in an update?

Plus I imagine some entrepreneurial developer will just make an app that spoofs the interaction somehow to prevent it from even working.

 

[Kuga]

Moral of the story is to encrypt your phone ahead of time and then turn it off at the first sign the police want access.

 

[Fox318]

Something needs to be done with drivers looking at phones while driving. The number of fucking idiots I see looking down or swerving while on the phone is insane.

They should be forced to give up their licence for 1-2 years or face the same amount of jail time somebody with a DUI gets.

Its fucking stupid when you could just get a window mount or use the bluetooth system that a majority of cars on the road have today.

 

[ColdPizza]

I text with Siri all the time and my eyes never leave the road...so what now? I just can't do that either?

You can send outgoing....does Siri read incoming texts?

 

[HylianTom]

texting while driving should mean you lose your license for at least 1 year.

Agree. Treat it like a DUI.

I'm on a motorbike every day, and I can see into most peoples' cars from my height. On many days, it seems like almost everyone is on their phones. It's pretty damn disgusting.

 

[Baconmonk]

I'm against texting and driving sure, and I'm all for prosecuting those that do with appropriate punishment.

That said, at the rate most government sponsored tech is developed driverless cars will likely hit and render this an obsolete waste of tax dollars. Also depending on how much info they can see from your phone, it sounds a bit invasive.

 

[slit]

No only is this a stupid idea but it's not even going to work. This could easily be manipulated. Not only that but if the phone is completely encrypted there is no way for them to check unless you let them. Even in a DUI situation, if you refuse they can get a court order for blood sample. That doesn't work here. Although I guess a license suspension is doable.

 

[Plinko]

Something needs to be done with drivers looking at phones while driving. The number of fucking idiots I see looking down or swerving while on the phone is insane.

They should be forced to give up their licence for 1-2 years or face the same amount of jail time somebody with a DUI gets.

Its fucking stupid when you could just get a window mount or use the bluetooth system that a majority of cars on the road have today.

Totally agree. It's out of control.

I'm a big fan of the "Same as DUI" treatment.

 

[ViciousDS]

You can send outgoing....does Siri read incoming texts?

"Siri, read my last text"


is what I say and it works really well and then asks if you wish to respond

Something needs to be done with drivers looking at phones while driving. The number of fucking idiots I see looking down or swerving while on the phone is insane.

They should be forced to give up their licence for 1-2 years or face the same amount of jail time somebody with a DUI gets.

Its fucking stupid when you could just get a window mount or use the bluetooth system that a majority of cars on the road have today.

A motherfucking cop yesterday gave me a warning for using an electronic communication device while driving. He said I was holding up the phone to my head.......I was like "I have no reason to even hold my phone.......*points to touch screen in center of the car* I have bluetooth and everything.


They fucking give me a warning for suspicion yet can't pull over the noticeable as fuck people texting or physically holding their phone.


Shits so stupid, I was beyond livid after that stop.

 

[platakul]

Can it find out if I was posting or playing Hearthstone tho?

 

[Glix]

I don't get it. If texting/using phone is causing someone to drive erratically, why does the texting need to be proven?

Just ticket/arrest them for reckless driving/driving erratically

 

[Vilix]

Good. Texting while driving should be treated as a DUI.

 

[Hari Seldon]

I'm pretty sure they are just hyping this for investors. I doubt you can do this with an iPhone.

 

[CREMSteve]

Eye tracking software comes next. We saw you looking at the radio when this wreck happened. Drive a car: be recorded.

The crime of any individual does not grant the authorities to remove the right to privacy to the public.

This is already a thing, I emeber reading about it a few months back. Police can spot you from a mile away with a special telephoto lens that detects where the driver's eyes are.