Ray Holmberg fears some day information about his driving habits could be recorded by a little black box in his car and used against him.

Holmberg, a Republican senator from Grand Forks, testified Monday in favor of Senate Bill 2200, which would require vehicle manufacturers to notify consumers if their vehicles have data recording devices.

"The problem is that most people don't realize these devices are in their vehicle, that the information may be used against them, and there's no sort of regulation about who owns that information," Holmberg said.

Data recorders can store information about a car's speed, brakes, airbag and whether seatbelts were worn seconds before a crash.

Holmberg and others who testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday said most "black boxes" in cars only keep a few seconds of information stored at a time.

However, Holmberg said it would be easy for companies to collect much more data.

"If a manufacturer decided tomorrow to track three months of data instead of five seconds, there's nothing that would make them have to tell anybody," Holmberg said. "Unknown to us, they might add a GPS or satellite component to the mix."

Holmberg said insurance companies could track their customers' driving habits with the devices to determine their rates, or law enforcement could use the data to help determine the cause of an accident.

Opposing the bill was Patrick Ward, a lobbyist for State Farm Insurance Co., and Bob Lamp, a lobbyist for the North Dakota Automobile Dealers Association.

Ward said State Farm is opposed to the bill because it might preclude insurance companies from getting consent to use the information from customers in advance.

Ward said insurance companies could give customers a reduced rate if they agree in advance that the information can be used.

"We should not suppress data that's useful in the search for the truth," Ward said.

Lamp said dealerships do not oppose the disclosure part of the bill, but they oppose the requirement that the devices have to be disconnected at the customers' request.

Lamp said the devices are almost impossible to disconnect because they are integrated within the car's computer system.

Lamp said the state should let the federal government regulate the devices.

"We need one standard, not fifty," Lamp said.

Holmberg said the parts of the bill that allow for removal of the device would have to be taken out because of the difficulty in removing them.

The bill also exempts subscription services like OnStar, but requires companies providing those services to disclose to the customer if any of the information collected is transmitted.

The committee did not make a recommendation. on the bill Monday.

(Reach reporter Tom Rafferty at 223-8482 or tom.rafferty@bismarcktribune.com)