The case is State v. Xinos. The question... Can the police swipe your car's black box data, without due process, after an accident and use the findings against you?
The answer... No, "We do not accept the Attorney General’s argument that defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the data contained in his vehicle’s SDM (Sensing and Diagnostic Module). The precision data recorded by the SDM was generated by his own vehicle for its systems operations. While a person’s driving on public roads is observable, that highly precise, digital data is not being exposed to public view or being conveyed to anyone else. . . . We conclude that a motorist’s subjective and reasonable expectation of privacy with regard to her or his own vehicle encompasses the digital data held in the vehicle’s SDM."
Another interesting point the court made... The SDM is located inside the vehicle, not outside, so... "Thus, a warrantless search of a vehicle, or the containers within it, under the automobile exception continues to be circumscribed by probable cause." (more)
