Opinion: Privacy shouldn't disappear in our vehicles

US law enforcement is pushing to gain access to information in high-tech vehicles. – Photo by Samuele Errico Piccarini on Unsplash

The ever-increasing connectivity between phones and the complex infotainment systems in automobiles may be putting our civil liberties at risk. Technology should never be used as an end-around the Constitution.

Research indicates police departments can and are using a device on vehicles to extract troves of text messages, contacts, emails and other personal data from a connected smartphone — all without a warrant — thanks to a legal exception to the Fourth Amendment that allows law enforcement to search cars on suspicion of a crime.