Data integrity verification device

1. A method of verifying data integrity comprising the steps of:

a) sensing a condition indicative of faulty data acquisition integrity collected by a device, wherein at least one of the sensed conditions includes detecting an absence of power from a main power source to the device;

b) obtaining data indicative of movement of the device during the detected absence of main power by powering at least one sensing device powered by a back-up power source disposed within the device;

c) storing data indicative of the sensed condition as an encoded entry;

d) forwarding the encoded entry with other acquired data to a central processor;

e) evaluating the encoded entry against predetermined criteria; and

f) indicating that data integrity has been compromised responsive to a failure of the encoded entry to fall within the predetermined criteria.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 , comprising detecting movement with a vibration sensor.

3. The method as recited in claim 2 , comprising indicating a possibility of data integrity fault responsive to data indicative of movement occurring concurrently with the detected off power condition.

4. The method as recited in claim 1 , where step a) comprises sensing entry to unauthorized portions of a device.

5. The method as recited in claim 1 , where step a) comprises sensing movement of a data acquisition device.

6. The method as recited in claim 1 , where the device is installed in a motor vehicle and collects data indicative of vehicle usage.

7. The method as recited in claim 6 , where the device includes a back up power system for powering the device during in the absence of power from a main power source provided by the motor vehicle.

8. The method as recited in claim 1 , where step a) comprises analyzing data gathered by the device for patterns indicative of faulty data acquisition.

9. The method as recited in claim 8 , where the pattern indicative of faulty data acquisition includes an identical repeating pattern of vehicle usage.

10. The method as recited in claim 9 , where the pattern indicative of faulty data acquisition includes repeating patterns of vehicle usage for different vehicles.

11. The method as recited in claim 9 , where the pattern indicative of faulty data acquisition includes detecting a mis-match between data stored within the device and a specific vehicle usage.

12. The method as recited in claim 1 , where step d) is performed at a location remote from the data acquisition device.

13. A device for acquiring data indicative of vehicle usage comprising:

a power module including a connection to an external power source, and an internal power source for powering said device independent of the external power source;

a first sensor for detecting motion of said device;

a data storage medium for storing data indicative of vehicle usage; and

a controller programmed to collect data from said first sensor responsive to the power module not receiving power from the external power source.

14. The device as recited in claim 13 , where said controller encodes data for analysis by an authorized user and stores said encoded data in said data storage medium.

15. The device as recited in claim 14 , where said encoded data is transmitted to a central server for analysis.

16. The device as recited in claim 14 , where said first sensor comprises a vibration sensor disposed within said device and powered by said internal power source when the power module is not receiving power from the external power source.

17. The device as recited in claim 14 including a second sensor for indicating unauthorized access to a restricted portion of said device.

18. The device as recited in claim 14 , including a physical indicator of unauthorized access to said device.