This Company Will Add Phone, AirPod, and Smartwatch Trackers to License Plate Readers
Account
Log in
Subscribe
Navigation
Home
About
RSS
Support/FAQ
Podcast
FOIA Forum Archive
Merch
Advertise
Thanks
Privacy
Follow us
Twitter<br>Bluesky<br>Mastodon<br>Instagram<br>TikTok<br>Facebook<br>RSS
Advertisement
•
Go ad free
Privacy<br>This Company Will Add Phone, AirPod, and Smartwatch Trackers to License Plate Readers
Joseph Cox
Jun 8, 2026<br>at 3:08 PM
SignalTrace “links devices that regularly travel together, correlating them to license plate.” It is a surveillance product that will sweep up and add all sorts of Bluetooth and other data to license plate readers, linking specific devices—and people—to cars.
Images from SignalTrace product here, available here. Collage by 404 Media.
A surveillance company plans to add sensors to automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) that would mean the devices, as well as capture the license plate of passing vehicles, would also sweep up unique identifiers of mobile phones, wearables, and other Bluetooth-enabled devices in those cars, potentially letting law enforcement identify specific drivers or passengers.<br>The technology, called SignalTrace, would turn ALPR cameras from devices focused on tracking cars to ones that can more readily track the location of particular people. ALPR cameras have become a commonly deployed technology all across the U.S.; SignalTrace would make some of those cameras capable of collecting much more data.<br>💡<br>Do you know anything else about SignalTrace? Do you work for Leonardo? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at joseph.404 or send me an email at joseph@404media.co.
This post is for paid members only
Become a paid member for unlimited ad-free access to articles, bonus podcast content, and more.
Subscribe
Sign up for free access to this post
Free members get access to posts like this one along with an email round-up of our week's stories.
Subscribe
Already have an account? Sign in
More like this
FCC Wants to Kill Burner Phones By Forcing Telecoms to Get All Customers’ IDs
The FCC wants to legally force telecoms to collect new and renewing customers’ government issued identity number and physical address, impacting everyone from the privacy-conscious to domestic abuse survivors. “We never thought that would happen here.”
Joseph Cox
Jun 9, 2026
The FBI Wants to Buy Nationwide Access to License Plate Readers
Only a couple vendors could likely fulfill what the FBI is after, namely Flock and Motorola.
Joseph Cox
May 18, 2026
Researchers Wanted Preschool Teachers to Wear Cameras to Train AI
“With your permission, your child’s lead teacher may wear a small teacher-worn camera that captures the teacher's approximate first-person perspective, and/or we may place a fixed video camera in the classroom,” a document given to parents and later shared with 404 Media reads.
Joseph Cox
May 18, 2026
FCC Wants to Kill Burner Phones By Forcing Telecoms to Get All Customers’ IDs
The FCC wants to legally force telecoms to collect new and renewing customers’ government issued identity number and physical address, impacting everyone from the privacy-conscious to domestic abuse survivors. “We never thought that would happen here.”
Joseph Cox
Jun 9, 2026
Judge Learns Lawyers on Both Sides of Case Used AI, Cancels Trial, Kicks Everyone Off the Case
When two AIs argue against each other, the legal system loses.
Jason Koebler
Jun 9, 2026
'Sloppenheimer:' Amazon Employees Mock the Company’s AI on Slack
Amazon employees have a Slack channel for memes where the mock and commiserate about the company’s faulty AI coding product.
Emanuel Maiberg
Jun 9, 2026
Advertisement
•
Go ad free
Advertisement
•
Go ad free
•
Hide