{"id":403649,"date":"2026-07-18T17:32:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T17:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/403649\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T17:32:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T17:32:10","slug":"opinion-tech-in-californias-new-cars-creates-thorny-political-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/403649\/","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: Tech in California\u2019s new cars creates thorny political issues"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Snapdragon<\/a>Qualcomm Snapdragon technology in the new Toyota RAV4. (Photo courtesy of Qualconm)<\/p>\n

This commentary\u00a0was originally published by CalMatters.\u00a0Sign up<\/a>\u00a0for their newsletters.<\/p>\n

Automobiles have gradually evolved over the last two decades from mechanical devices into electronic platforms featuring computer screens and numerous other digital capabilities.<\/p>\n

A few years ago, the\u00a0California Air Resources Board<\/a>\u00a0began requiring automakers to install devices in vehicles to record and store operational data that the agency could access to determine how well emission reduction programs were working.<\/p>\n

\"Opinion<\/a><\/p>\n

It was one aspect of the state\u2019s announced goal of\u00a0phasing out cars and trucks powered by gasoline and diesel fuel<\/a>\u00a0and replacing them with zero-emission vehicles.<\/p>\n

The auto industry\u00a0opposed the data collection mandate<\/a>, arguing it would violate the privacy of vehicle owners. At one point the industry threatened to stop producing cars for California.<\/p>\n

The agency insisted it would not collect data involuntarily. But its regulation fueled \u2014 pun intended \u2014 suspicions in some quarters that recording how and where cars were being used would allow them to be tracked, much as cellphone usage can be traced.<\/p>\n

Or, some said, as gas and diesel use declined and gallonage taxes dropped, the state could begin charging drivers by miles driven, based on their recorded data.<\/p>\n

As the data collection mandate was being implemented, another aspect of the situation surfaced \u2014 fears that the tracking software to help motorists obtain help in emergencies, such as\u00a0General Motors\u2019 OnStar system<\/a>, could be misused by abusive spouses to find and attack their mates.<\/p>\n

Two years ago, the Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom enacted a law aimed at countering that potential abuse.\u00a0Senate Bill 1394<\/a>\u00a0required automakers to provide an internet process by which a \u201cconnected vehicle service\u201d could be quickly terminated. Those seeking termination would have to prove they either owned the vehicle or possessed it via a divorce decree or domestic violence restraining order.<\/p>\n

That was the relatively easy part of SB 1384.<\/p>\n

The more contentious portion of the law required new cars to be equipped with a \u201cmechanism that can be used by a driver who is inside a vehicle to immediately disable connected vehicle location access.\u201d The mechanism had to be \u201cprominently located, easy to use, not require access to an online application, not require a password or login information, and only allow re-enabling of the connected vehicle location access by a driver who is located inside the vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n

The deadline for meeting that requirement was last week. The industry has insisted that was, from a practical standpoint, impossible to meet because it is a complex engineering problem that involves dozens of different auto models, and automakers would have to maintain existing electronic tools, such as GPS navigation, and helpful services, such as OnStar.<\/p>\n

Without a change in the mandate, the industry\u2019s lobbyists warned, automakers\u00a0could be compelled to suspend sales<\/a>\u00a0in the state, echoing a threat they made about the Air Resources Board\u2019s data collection mandate earlier.<\/p>\n

It was something of a political standoff until\u00a0Senate Bill 719<\/a>\u00a0emerged from backroom negotiations late last month. Just one day before the deadline, Newsom signed the bill that narrows the application of the requirement, eliminates the hard deadline for it and substitutes a series of deadlines tied to model years and \u201ctechnological feasibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thus it is impossible to say for certain when, if ever, cars will be equipped with the ability to disconnect location tracking software.<\/p>\n

These two instances imply that the conversion of the automobile from a mechanical device to an electronic one has created a bottomless well of potential issues involving privacy, governmental regulation and the politically heated topic of how California would change the way motorists are taxed once the gallonage taxes on fuels disappear, if they ever do.<\/p>\n

CalMatters<\/a>\u00a0is a nonpartisan and nonprofit news organization bringing Californians stories that probe, explain and explore solutions to quality of life issues while holding our leaders accountable.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Want to submit a letter to the editor, guest column or\u00a0opinion\u00a0piece? Find our guidelines and submission form\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Qualcomm Snapdragon technology in the new Toyota RAV4. (Photo courtesy of Qualconm) This commentary\u00a0was originally published by CalMatters.\u00a0Sign…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403650,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,6996,1279,5551,9295,1970],"class_list":["post-403649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-cars","tag-data","tag-legislature","tag-privacy","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}