Forget Flock — this system could let police track your car with help from your phone

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Imagine a world where the police can identify people on the move not just by their license plate, but also the electronic devices that are traveling with them. This is exactly what a new sensor system from Leonardo US Cyber and Security Solutions is designed to achieve.

The technology is aptly named SignalTrace, and it is designed to detect Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and RFID signals being emitted from nearby devices (via ArsTechnica ). Leonardo’s idea is to deploy these sensors alongside automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) cameras like those from Flock.

Here’s how tracking would theoretically work: Let’s say you drive to work every single day, and there’s an ALPR camera on the way. It recognizes your license plate and registers it every day. At the same time, an accompanying SignalTrace sensor at the same location could pick up electronic signals being emitted from your devices. This can include your phone, tablet, laptop, smartwatch, and more.

Over time, the system, which could be analyzing both the ALPR camera’s data and SignalTrace’s data, would spot the recurring pattern of the group of electronics repeatedly appearing with your vehicle.

Leonardo says that SignalTrace does not identify individuals or create a database of citizens based on their devices. “The system only collects electronic signatures. Those electronic signatures, by themselves, do not identify a person,” wrote the company.

The counterpoint to Leonardo’s argument is arguably in the company’s statement itself. It says that electronic signatures “by themselves” do not identify a person. That’s true, but SignalTrace isn’t designed to work by itself. It is designed to work alongside ALPR cameras.

Given the recurring pattern of a group of devices always appearing alongside a license plate, the electronic signatures could be associated with the vehicle. Through a quick vehicle registration check, those electronic signatures could potentially be tied to an identity. When placed in the hands of a nefarious officer, the tech could potentially be abused to monitor a person’s movements.