License plate cameras will soon monitor phones, wearable devices, infotainment systems, and even your pets.
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If data brokers are capable of tracking the devices you carry, they have insight into your residence, your movements, and your activities. The situation is only set to become more serious, as surveillance firms selling automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) are entering the scene. Defense contractor Leonardo is advocating for a new technology called SignalTrace, which will combine license plate cameras with sensors that can collect unique identifiers associated with your smart devices and provide that information to law enforcement.
A recent article by 404 Media explores the purpose of SignalTrace and its marketing to authorities. Law enforcement, border control, and various government bodies already comprise Leonardo's clientele, and with this technology, these clients aim to link footage from these cameras to smartphones, tablets, wearables, AirTags, and also the electronics within vehicles.
If SignalTrace can detect your Bluetooth headphones, it is highly likely it will also monitor your vehicle's 5G hotspot, infotainment system, and even its tire pressure monitoring sensors. Moreover, the company suggests that pet microchips could serve as another tracking method.
An excerpt from Leonardo’s promotional material for SignalTrace. Leonardo
As noted by 404, the overarching aim is to “bridge the gap between vehicle and occupant.” In the past, these cameras could only track a vehicle's location at specific times. However, by introducing numerous unique identifiers, linking one or more individuals to that vehicle becomes straightforward—and there’s no way for anyone to opt out.
Certainly, ALPRs were already problematic; the Electronic Frontier Foundation discovered that continuously capturing images of vehicles in transit at various points during their journeys was sufficient to establish an individual's "pattern of life" and even identify their associates.
Leonardo was awarded the patent for the technology behind SignalTrace two years ago. A press release regarding this achievement ends with a disclaimer stating that the company’s technology "captures device frequencies emitted into the air" and "does not decrypt or capture the contents of the devices or their communications." This is precisely how such companies can avoid accountability for the surveillance they facilitate. Whether or not they decode encryption, the outcomes remain unchanged.
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A novel type of camera designed to read license plates will additionally collect data from the smart devices you carry, presenting all that information neatly for law enforcement and government use.