Ford wants patent for tech allowing cars to surveil and report speeding drivers

Ford Motor Company is seeking a patent for technology that would allow vehicles to track the speed of surrounding cars, photograph them and relay detailed information to police, making it easier for law enforcement to surveil action on the road. 

The patent application, filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on July 18, is titled "Systems and Methods for Detecting Speeding Violations," and describes how photographs of speeding cars would be packaged in a report that includes the time, location and speed of an offending vehicle.

That report would be sent via the internet to automated trackers placed along the road, Ford’s patent application says, allowing the digest to be easily shared between police officers.

Citing the difficulties traffic police face in quickly and accurately locating speeding cars, the application said “it is desirable to provide systems and methods that assist traffic police and/or other law enforcement officers [to] perform such tasks.”

Ford is one of the largest worldwide auto brands and ranked third in the American market in 2023 by netting 12 percent of new vehicle registrations, according to Experian.

Privacy advocates criticized Ford’s plan.

“Giving consumers the ability to report each other to law enforcement for speeding is pretty dystopian,” said data broker expert Jeff Jockisch, who is co-founder of the data privacy and research firm ObscureIQ. “And it’s a slippery slope with technology. It's a terrible idea.”

A Ford spokesperson said the technology is only intended for law enforcement vehicles that the automaker sells to police.

An image from Ford's patent application for technology allowing cars to surveil and report speeders.

"The patent explicitly states this idea for a system is specific for application in law enforcement vehicles, such as the Ford Police Interceptor, as it would automate a capability that law enforcement already have in use today, except this could utilize the built-in systems and sensors in law enforcement vehicles in the future,” the Ford spokesperson said via email. 

However, while the patent application does not state whether the technology could be used in cars sold to average consumers, it also does not explicitly state that the technology would exclusively apply only to vehicles Ford sells to police.

Details of Ford’s latest controversial patent application were first reported by Newsweek.

Late last year Ford ditched a patent application for a system that would take control of cars whose owners were behind on payments. That technology would have directed self-driving cars to automatically head to repo lots.

That patent application said the technology also would let lenders remotely and permanently lock cars; disable steering wheels, brakes and air conditioning; and play loud sounds inside of vehicles for drivers behind on payments.