Minnesota Has Begun Crafting Privacy Policies for Connected Transit Tech
Photo: Sean Gallup / Staff (Getty Images)
Connected and automated vehicles are the future, but they carry with them a host of privacy concerns that rightfully necessitate a careful, thoughtful approach to crafting security frameworks to guide their widespread implementation. It’s mostly uncharted territory at this point, but a handful of states are taking proactive steps towards craftingprivacy policies that will protect civilians from data misuse and privacy violations down the line.
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On Tuesday, the emerging technologies magazine Government Technology reported that Minnesota is one such state, with an entire council dedicated to ameliorating the tension between automated transit’s risks and rewards. That council the Connected and Automated Vehicle Innovation Alliance, or CAV for short was established last year by the Minnesota Department of Transportation with the intention to “get
transportation-disadvantaged communities. Photo: Pjotr-Mahhonin via Wikimedia
As momentum for connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) continues to build in Minnesota, researchers in the U’s Transportation Policy and Economic Competitiveness (TPEC) program are working to understand how CAV technology could serve transportation-disadvantaged communities. CAVs offer the potential to provide greater mobility and equity for many people, but public engagement is essential to ensure all user needs are understood and addressed.
Previous TPEC efforts gathered input from local officials, stakeholders, and community members in Grand Rapids, St. Cloud, Mankato, and Fergus Falls. Building on this work, recent activities sought to uncover the needs of transportation-disadvantaged communities in the Twin Cities east metro area and determine whether CAVs could be an appropriate solution.