Police might not be able to use information recorded by a "black box" installed on most new cars if the state Senate deems the device the property of its owner.

Sen. Tony Stamas, R-Midland, is working on legislation that would address privacy issues being raised by law enforcement officials who use this microchip to prosecute individuals at fault in car accidents, said Chad Wing, Stamas' chief of staff.

"There's a growing concern that the information being collected by these black boxes has the potential to hurt individuals," Wing said. "The first thing we want to make sure is consumers know they are purchasing a vehicle with a black box in it."

Police agencies have access to tools that can allow them to download data recorded by a "black box," said Alan Adler, spokesman for product safety at General Motors Corp.

"General Motors does not release the data without a subpoena from law enforcement," Adler said. "The ownership issue is something we respect. We do everything we can to respect our owners' privacy.

"They know what is being recorded in the vehicle."

The black box is actually a small microchip installed into a vehicle's central computer, Adler said. This device records speed, crash severity data, air bag performance, position of the throttle and if the brake was applied.

"They are not spies," he said. "They don't tell you where the vehicle is or where they were going. These record essentially about five seconds of data. They are tied into the air bag system."

The American Automobile Association maintains that drivers own the information recorded on the microchips, said Richard Miller, a community safety services manager for the association.

"They were designed to serve the auto manufacturer," Miller said. "All of them have this kind of technology built in. It was originally designed to tell a vehicle when to deploy air bags. Once that got rolling, it gave them an excellent means of how their vehicles react in crashes.

"In the years since, as the technology has gotten better, you can gather that much more information. There are certainly cases where it is being used in both civil and criminal prosecution."

Stamas is drafting legislation that is due out in the near future, Wing said, adding that the senator doesn't want to eliminate this technology, just alter how it is used.

"It will address these privacy issues that are bring raised," he said. "We're not seeking to eliminate the technology - what we need to do is limit what information is being compiled and what it is used for.

"There is a real concern about what the information could be used for. There are legitimate uses for the technology, we just want to make sure that is what they will be used for."

Sen. Mark Schauer, D-Battle Creek, said the state has more pressing issues they could be discussing.

"I've never been contacted by a constituent who has had one of these sized," Schauer said. "I've not heard this is a problem that needs to be solved."