ATA Associates Expert, April Yergin, Delves Into the Science Behind Infotainment Systems

Houston, Texas, August 2, 2017 (Newswire.com) - NBC’s KPRC investigative reporter Joel Eisenbaum visited the facilities at ATA Associates to interview staff expert April Yergin. Mr. Eisenbaum was gathering background information on the infotainment systems installed in today’s personal vehicles.

ATA Associates, Inc. has been performing accident reconstruction and forensic engineering services for more than 45 years.  They maintain focus on vehicle data collection and analysis since vehicle black boxes started to proliferate in cars and trucks in the early 90’s.

"It's like the Wild West"

April Yergin, Technical Analyist / Accident Reconstructionist

Mr. Eisenbaum’s televised report asked questions about what types of information is being stored on those systems and how that data is shared. The report also points out that not only do these systems collect and store all types of data; including call logs, photos, and social media feeds, but that it is also nearly impossible for the vehicle owner to delete this information.

Among the issues surrounding this new arena of data harvesting, are ones of personal privacy, who has access to this information and how they might utilize it.

As the report states:

“…, perhaps because the field is so new, the federal government has not regulated what sorts of data infotainment systems can collect and how that information must be secured.”

Source: ATA Associates, Inc; KPRC-TV; Click2Houston