GA: No REP in data in car’s airbag control module

Defendant did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the data from his vehicle’s airbag control module, because, while an outside observer cannot ascertain the information regarding the use and function of a vehicle with the same precision, a member of the public could observe the vehicle’s approximate speed, whether a vehicle’s brakes are being used, and observe whether a driver is wearing a seat belt. Thus, retrieval of the data was not a search or seizure protected by the Fourth Amendment. Mobley v. State, 2018 Ga. App. LEXIS 430 (June 27, 2018). [Note: This is just wrong because this search required entry into a disabled car, and a search warrant should be required, and it wouldn’t be that hard to get. Call it reasonable expectation of privacy or trespass, this warrantless search is unreasonable. What about the vehicle’s black box, installed GPS, dashcam?]

There was no reasonable expectation of privacy in the visible contents of a parked car when the police could simply look in the car with a flashlight. The contents of the car was thus in plain view. People v. Barbee, 2018 Mich. App. LEXIS 2723 (June 27, 2018).

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