Use of telematics (vehicle tracking data) in murder case reveals astonishing detail in which movement is tracked

[Innula Zenovka]

This whole dreadful case is utterly bizarre, like something out of a very convoluted crime novel, and one of its many peculiarities is that it reveals the extraordinary detail in which the defendant's own car tracked his movements on the night of the murder.

Though it had been severely damaged, police were able to access the car’s telematics system – effectively its black box – which keeps a detailed record of the vehicle’s movements and even when the doors and boot are opened and closed.

On 17 April – just over 24 hours before the killing – the Land Rover spent 23 minutes parked on the drive of Gof Du. It was then driven to a nearby sandy beach called Porth Dafarch. The vehicle remained there for about an hour and a half before heading back to Whall’s home.

On the night of the killing the Land Rover was back at Porth Dafarch. The boot was opened at about 11.10pm. The police believe this was when the crossbow was being taken out.

At 12.42am – 12 or 13 minutes after Corrigan was shot – the telematics system recorded the boot boot being re-opened. The crossbow was being stored away, police think.

Vehicle tracking data and Amazon order history led police to crossbow killer

Murder of Gerald Corrigan shocked Anglesey and initially mystified police - but killer’s motive remains unclear

www.theguardian.com

Is this standard in vehicles nowadays? I don't own a car (don't need one) so I'm very much out of touch with developments over the last 25 years.

 

[OrinB]

Wow! I didn’t even know they recorded that sort of data. I wonder if there’s any software agreement or contract that is signed when you purchase a car that gives you an insight into what the car is doing? Is this data aggregated by the manufacturers in some way? If so it can be linked directly to phone data to de-anonymise such data!

What are we doing to ourselves?

 

[Ashiri]

Is this standard in vehicles nowadays? I don't own a car (don't need one) so I'm very much out of touch with developments over the last 25 years.

It would depend on whether the car has GPS and a security system built in.

 

[Rose Karuna]

This is a pretty good article about what they record: Decoding What's Inside Your Car's Black Box | Edmunds

And this is a pretty good article on how that shit can be used against you: Your Vehicle Black Box: A 'Witness' Against You In Court

Worse yet, insurance companies can get the data just by plugging their laptop into a port: Your Car Might Just Tattle On You

You're not paranoid if you're actually being watched all the time.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

A while back there was a court case that revealed that assistants like OnStar can be used to give 24/7 voice recording with a warrant. The case came to light because the target of surveillance argued that compromising their car's emergency features by sending audio to an FBI monitor compromised a safety feature. The judge held that as long as the FBI monitors spoofing OnStar provided the same emergency services, it was permissible.

The same can be said for monitoring Alexa, Google Now, or Siri if they are connected.