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Do black boxes allow the authorities to listen to in-car conversations?

I have recently read that new cars have a system installed which would alert emergency services in the event of an accident. In effect, these 'monitoring' boxes/systems would allow access by the authorities who would be able to listen to in-car conversations and disable the engine. Can you confirm or otherwise any substance in this report?

Asked on 26 November 2018 by mike

Answered by Honest John
This system is called "E CALL" ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/its/road/action_plan...n
112 eCall is not a black box. It does not record constantly the position of the vehicle, it records only a few data to determine the position and direction of the vehicle just before the crash and these data are only transmitted to emergency call centres if there is a serious crash.
eCall cannot be used to monitor motorist's moves. The SIM-card used to transmit the eCall data is dormant, i.e. it is only activated in case the vehicle has a serious accident (e.g. the airbag is activated). 112 eCall is not expensive. The cost is estimated to less than €100 per car at the date of entry into force of the proposed regulation. This cost is expected to decrease in the future.

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