Court Leaves the Door Open For Safety System Wiretaps.

Focuses on a decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco that the government can use safety and communications systems in automobiles as in-car wiretaps. Challenge from an unidentified company that was ordered to create the wiretap for the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Indication that the technology is used by OnStar, ATX and others that combine a global positioning satellite transmitter with a cellular telephone; Background on the Nevada case, the decision, and sealed court files; Denial of companies providing telematics services that they were involved in the Nevada investigation; Comment of Chris Hoofnagle of Electronic Information Privacy Center, a civil liberties group.