The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has requested comments on its proposed “Federal Automated Vehicles Policy” which is intended to advance the development of autonomous vehicles. In its filing, the Center for Data Innovation argues that NHTSA should encourage data collection and sharing among vehicle manufacturers, transportation safety regulators, and other stakeholders, and its goal should be to create a rapid-learning transportation network that is capable of harnessing massive amounts of data to quickly generate new knowledge and enable stakeholders to make informed decisions about public safety. However, NHTSA should revise the policy to strike the counterproductive and unnecessary recommendations related to consumer privacy which are not relevant to vehicle safety, have the potential to create duplicative or conflicting rules, and which are outside the immediate expertise of the agency.
Comments to NHTSA on Proposed Federal Automated Vehicles Policy
Daniel Castro
Daniel Castro is president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), the world’s top-ranked think tank for science and technology policy, where he leads the organization’s work shaping debates on critical issues at the intersection of technological innovation and public policy. He is a prolific writer and respected public speaker on issues ranging from Internet policy and digital governance to artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies. Castro also founded and is director of ITIF’s Center for Data Innovation, a leading voice on open data, artificial intelligence, and digital transformation. He has played a key role in advancing the OPEN Government Data Act and has long worked on the policy and economic impact of data-driven innovation. His work on AI spans a broad range of policy issues, including adoption and diffusion, privacy and security, intellectual property, deepfakes and information integrity, and the economic and competitive dynamics of AI, as well as global competition and governance—particularly in China and Europe.
