A California-based consumer advocacy group is seeking data from Uber regarding testing of self-driving cars after Uber recently moved tests to Arizona from California.

The group also wants information about what Uber has found from tests taking place in Pittsburgh.

“Consumer Watchdog believes you opted to pick up your toys and move because you wanted to keep important information about your robot car testing secret,” wrote John Simpson, privacy project director for Consumer Watchdog.

“We would welcome your proving our conclusion to be incorrect, by making public important information about your robot car activities. Using public highways as your laboratory carries the obligation of telling the public what you are doing.”

The group noted that “had Uber obtained a testing permit in California, the company would have been required to report any crashes of its robot cars to the Department of Motor Vehicles and to file annual disengagement reports, explaining when the robot car turned control over to the test driver and when the test driver felt it necessary to intervene. This information is essential to understanding the state of the robot car technology.”

Consumer Watchdog also has pressed Google in the past about the Internet giant’s autonomous car program.

The 10 questions, which are the same as the group posed regarding the Pittsburgh tests, are:

1. We understand self-driving cars cannot currently handle many common occurrences on the road, including heavy rain or snow, hand signals from a traffic cop, or gestures to communicate from other drivers. Will Uber publish a complete list of real-life situations the cars cannot yet understand, and how you intend to deal with them?
2. What does Uber envision happening if the computer “driver” suddenly goes offline with a passenger in the car, if the car has no steering wheel or pedals and the passenger cannot steer or stop the vehicle?
3. Your programmers will literally make life and death decisions as they write the vehicles’ algorithms. Will Uber agree to publish its software algorithms, including how the company’s “artificial car intelligence” will be programmed to decide what happens in the event of a potential collision? For instance, will Uber’s robot car prioritize the safety of the occupants of the vehicle or pedestrians it encounters?
4. Will Uber publish all video from the car and technical data such as radar and lidar reports associated with accidents or other anomalous situations? If not, why not?
5. Will Uber publish all data in its possession that discusses, or makes projections concerning, the safety of driverless vehicles?
6. Does Uber expect one of your robot cars to be involved in a fatal crash? If your robot car causes the crash, how would Uber be held accountable?
7. How will Uber prove that self-driving cars are safer than today’s vehicles?
8. Will Uber agree not to store, market, sell, or transfer the data gathered by the self-driving car robot car, or utilize it for any purpose other than navigating the vehicle?
9. Does Uber have the technology to prevent malicious hackers from seizing control of a driverless vehicle or any of its systems?
10. When does Uber expect to deploy and carry passengers in fully autonomous, self-driving robot cars without backup human drivers?

Read Consumer Watchdog’s letter here: http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/ltrkalanick010417.pdf