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License Plate Readers Move Beyond Plates to Track Phones, Wearables, and Pet Microchips | by SOFX
A new surveillance technology could allow law enforcement agencies to track not only vehicles, but also phones, smartwatches, wireless earbuds and other electronic devices linked to people inside those vehicles, according to recent reports.
The technology, called SignalTrace, was developed by defense contractor Leonardo and is designed to work with automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras, which are already widely used to record vehicle license plates.
According to the product sheet cited by 404 Media, 404media.co/this-compan… , SignalTrace combines license plate recognition data with identifiers collected from devices such as mobile phones, Bluetooth-enabled wearables and RFID-enabled devices, including workplace access badges and pet microchips, to create a unique, trackable “electronic fingerprint” that can aid in the identification of suspects or witnesses.
“When multiple devices consistently move together with a vehicle, SignalTraceʼs algorithms link them to that vehicleʼs license plate and time-stamped location data. This correlation provides investigators with another layer of actionable intelligence, even if a suspect changes or removes a plate,” the sheet reads.
Privacy advocates have long raised concerns about automated license plate readers. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has said that repeatedly capturing images of vehicles at different locations can reveal a person’s “pattern of life” and even identify people they regularly associate with.
The company has not yet commented on privacy concerns surrounding SignalTrace.
Leonardo received a patent for the technology behind SignalTrace in 2024. In a press release, businesswire.com/news/h… , announcing the milestone, the company defended the technology, saying it “captures device frequencies emitted into the air” and “does not decrypt or capture the contents of the devices or their communications.”
On its website,leonardocompany-us.com/…, Leonardo also said that “SignalTrace was designed to ensure it does not infringe on the rights of individuals.”
It added that “the SignalTrace system simply stores data until a specific request is made of the system by an investigator” and is used only after a crime has occurred.
Leonardo’s customers include police departments, security agencies and other government organizations.
