First Take: Privacy in Updated Federal Guidance for Automated Driving

The Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued updated guidance for autonomous vehicles; streamlining last year’s guidance, incorporating public comments, and stripping privacy from its recommendations.

While Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao’s opening message highlights the importance of protecting consumer privacy, privacy was among three elements removed in the updated guidance, along with “Registration and Certification” and “Ethical Considerations.” This means that these topics are not to be included in the Safety Assessment Letters, which the guidance stresses are highly voluntary, despite recent legislative proposals that would make mandatory. Readers seeking information on NHTSA’s updated approach to privacy had to look to the footnotes, which point to a new NHTSA website, where answers can be found by clicking through and expanding an extended series of Q&As.