EU wants trackers in EVERY new car
MInISTErS were last night urged to ditch Brussels legislation forcing all new cars to be fitted with ‘Big Brother’ tracking devices.
They were warned motorists would be treated like criminals as the surveillance equipment was like ‘wearing a tag’.
It came after Mercedes sparked a privacy row by admitting its cars are fitted with secret sensors which can pin-point their location.
The German car-maker said the devices are fitted to help recover the vehicles of owners fall behind on their payments.
now it has emerged Theresa May’s government backed an EU edict making new vehicle ‘ black boxes’ mandatory. These track driving styles and store data such as speed and direction before a crash. The kit, at the centre of European Commission road safety plans, has to be in new cars from May 2022 and existing ones two years later. But former Cabinet minister David Davis said the legislation should be debated after Brexit. He and Tory MP Andrew Bridgen both said it is an invasion of privacy. Mr Davis accepts young drivers get cheaper insurance if they have a black box, but said: ‘It’s the equivalent of wearing a tag. Why would drivers want a black box?
‘If this technology needs to be fitted for exports to EU then fine. But what we do on British roads is up to us.’
Mr Bridgen agreed: ‘This impinges on privacy and is another step towards Big Brother.
‘If this information gets into the wrong hands people will be able to know when drivers are away from home and where they have parked.
‘This could be invaluable to the criminal fraternity.’
Around 80 per cent of the 170,000 new Mercedes cars sold in Britain last year were on finance. Mercedes said the sensors only activate when customers default and that is set out in the terms and conditions of its contracts.