The Snitch Data Modern Cars Could Collect In An Accident No one likes snitches, and those snitches are often threatened with dire consequences. Modern cars don't care about that, though, and are likely to snitch on you. The difference is that their snitching often happens after they wind up in a ditch. Most late-model cars contain what is called an Event Data Recorder (EDR), which is sort of the automotive version of the black box installed in airplanes. They record data on what your car and, to some extent, you were doing at the time of an accident. But there are multiple other connected devices in your car — like cameras, OnStar, and your infotainment system – that could be used to collect information on you. And, in fact, lots of new cars are spying on you in various ways, not just during accidents. What's more, cars are really bad at protecting that data. But this isn't a new development. EDRs started showing up in automobiles in the 1970s. By the 2017 model year, EDRs came in 99.6% of new light vehicles. How do you know if your vehicle has an EDR? Since 2012, federal law has required automakers to state in the owner's manual if a car has this device. And the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has minimum requirements about what the device should record. These can be helpful in an accident, as can video footage and other data provided by those additional devices. But who's to say certain data can't be misinterpreted or twisted by an insurance company? What the black box records The NHTSA doesn't require vehicles to carry EDRs, but it does require that 15 things be recorded if a car is equipped with one. Those include the change in speed during the crash