Big brother wants to place black boxes in your car

The government has essentially dictated what goes in ECU's for a decade and a half. Why is this news?

I fail to see how a black box is Big Brother-ish. The recent Australian proposal to charge per kilometre, now that sounds a bit Big Brother-ish.

Poor headline, I think.

I suppose the big-brotherish aspect is the assumption they will eventually be configured to track all the important parameters of usage.

On the other hand these could also be gateway devices that evolve into a necessary component for smart roads.

Kind of silly editorializing in the headline, no?

Aren't these pretty standard in new cars already?