Warrant needed to search a car’s “Black Box”

An appeals court in our state has recently ruled that law enforcement authorities must obtain a search warrant from a court as part of any criminal investigation before they can search or download information from a car’s ‘black box’, which is otherwise known as an electronic data recorder. The case before Florida’s 4th District Court of Appeals originated from a 2013 DUI Manslaughter and Vehicular Homicide case. The majority opinion by the 4th District Court of Appeals reflects a trend by the appellate courts around the country that holds that people have a reasonable expectation of privacy to their electronic storage devices, including now a car’s black box. The black box records a wide range if information about a person’s vehicle, including but not limited to, speed, braking, and steering. These black boxes have been installed in more and