CVR Privacy.
I've had to sit and listen to a CVR with the gentlemen from the AAIB following the worst day of my flying career. In the UK the CVR remains the property of the crew (under copyright laws believe it or not) We heard the whole tape, including the scurrilous conversations we had been having about management during the cruise. The AAIB asked P2 and myself if they could use certain parts of the transcript alongside DFDR data in the final report and we had to sign that we were happy for that. If either of us had a doubt then the CVR material would not be used.
If that CVR tape had become public would it have done anything other than provide tabloid titilation, and cause utter fury in the people we had been discussing as well as damaging the image of the company. No-one other than another pilot, or aviation specialist would have understood what was going on during the last few minutes of flight.
I bless the fact that CVR data in this country is private. The AAIB tend to use it, mostly to back up the pilots' initial statements, and to pick up what the pilots may have missed in their shocked state. We were treated with kindness and humour by the AAIB and our fears about anything private getting out were instantly allayed. IF CVRs were in the public domain I would have great concerns about how the data would be treated by the media.