IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2019 - 16

the vehicle require a person to
be ready to take back control of a
vehicle if the autonomous system
disengages or fails, or can a person enjoy a fully automated experience with the vehicle truly being
able to monitor and engage in the

of Use that clearly and succinctly
inform consumers upfront (rather
than buried in the middle of cumbersome terms that few read, even
if capitalized) of any rights being
waived, how data will be collected
and used, and any potential risks
from a technology (similar to
requirements around the
advertisement of pharmaceutical drugs).
Many will quickly disHitting "refresh" on the current
count a n informed risk
Terms of Use model allows
approach to technology as
burdensome, cumbersome,
consumers to better understand
and an unneeded impediment to innovation. But
risks and benefits of new technology.
hitting "refresh" on the current Terms of Use model
vehicle's operational domain? This
allows consumers to better underdistinction will also be an imporstand and weigh any risks with the
tant part of determining future
benefits of using a technology. This
liability for accidents involving auwill promote more trust and greater
tonomous vehicles.
long-term consumer adoption. It
If mistrust grows around the use
likely will engender more loyalty (and
less legal exposure for data focusof data by companies, or potened companies) when we have our
tial claims from an injury or death
next "Facebook moment." Such an
from using a private-fleet-operated
approach could also deter the growself-driving vehicle is found to be
"unknowingly" limited, we may exing skepticism around new technoloperience a slowed adoption of new
gies that generate difficult privacy
innovations. Worse yet, technoloconsiderations such as facial recoggies that offer potential societal
nition, which has been banned in
benefits, such as enhanced mobility
San Francisco and Oakland, with
for underserved communities and
other cities considering similar prodisabled and aging populations,
hibitions. Our goal with innovation
might not come to fruition.
should be promote productive and
A potential solution is a movetransparent demonstration and
ment by companies towards Terms
lea r ning, rather than wholesale

IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

banning or opting-out of technology
due to concerns around citizen or
consumer trust.
Collaborating to proactively
address privacy and transparency
around issues like data collection
can set the foundation for then
considering the significant gap that
will exist between those who have
accepted Terms of Use (i.e., through
using services delivered by Waymo
or Amazon) and those who have
not. Instead of waiting for the law to
catch up with technology, or instead
of passing laws that may be overly
restrictive at this early stage of
deployment, we can develop legal
guardrails that can flex and bend as
these exciting transportation innovations mature and as important
legal and policy issues arise. With
a focus on collaboration between
the public and private sector, in
addition to citizen engagement,
the path towards the promotion of
both short-term adoption and longterm success of such innovations
becomes smoother.

Author Information
Gregory Rodriguez is an attorney
based out of Washington D.C., specializing in policy and regulation
issues related to emerging transportation technologies. He is co-host
of the Mobility Podcast. Twitter:
@smartertranspo. Views are his own.

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SEPTEMBER 2019

IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2019