Monday, October 13, 2014

Word on the Street: Hertz has cameras in their cars!

...from an anonymous blog entry...
I am a regular renter from Hertz (President's Circle)... I got into a rental car at O'Hare airport. 

I immediately noticed the new NeverLost and I was completely shocked to see a camera built into the device looking at me. The system can't be turned off from what could tell...

I know rental car companies have been tracking the speed and movements of their vehicles for years but putting a camera inside the cabin of the vehicle is taking their need for information a little TOO FAR. I find this to be completely UNACCEPTABLE. In fact, if I get another car from Hertz with a camera in it, I will move our business from Hertz completely. 

I influence car rentals of many others and I don't think anyone would want to be on camera while they are driving around or sitting at a red light. 

Given what Hertz has invested in this system, I wonder how much consumer pressure will make them to pull the plug on this. Business is built one customer at a time and they will no longer have me as a customer. What are your thoughts? (more)

Further investigations revealed...
...the Hertz NeverLost 6 platform will include an ARM Cortex-A9 architecture with quad cores running at 1GHz, a high-res TFT display, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity and a GPS module that engineers built around SiRFstarIV architecture. Also included are a keypad, camera module, accelerometers and a Gyros sensor board...