Another reason not to buy a Ford

[Farmer17]

We've been tracked for decades in one way or another and it's probably worse now but nothing new. I remember in the 1990s I bought a used hot tub from an individual and put it on my backyard patio. A few months later I was checking on line at the Oklahoma County Assessors office to see the assessed value of my house because we were thinking of moving to something bigger. To my surprise it listed the hot tub on the assessment! How did they know so quickly?? Is someone constantly monitoring Google Earth at the County Assessors office?

 

[TIMETRIPPER]

I'm surprised that they don't do something similar on the toll roads. With Easypass time stamps and known distances between exits, its a simple calculation. The only issue is with the actual driver ID.
I expect it to be only a matter of time...

John

 

[ridewv]

...I remember in the 1990s I bought a used hot tub from an individual and put it on my backyard patio. A few months later I was checking on line at the Oklahoma County Assessors office to see the assessed value of my house because we were thinking of moving to something bigger. To my surprise it listed the hot tub on the assessment! How did they know so quickly?? Is someone constantly monitoring Google Earth at the County Assessors office?

Back 30 years ago the only way I'd think the assessor would have known is if one of their people who routinely went out to check property, happened to be checking yours then and notice it.
Now they don't even need to leave their offices, they use tools like Google Earth satellite images, Zillow, drones, etc.

A friend works in the assessor office and he says it's funny when people come in to challenge their increased assessment. When he says "looks like you added a structure", they'll often deny it. Then he shows them the sat image which shows the new garage to scale on the property along the image from last year showing the area vacant. The person generally blushes, mutters something, and storms out.

 

[Magnum_PI]

No thanks! Glad I don't own or drive Ford, and won't in the future!

 

[LoadedRound]

Must not be working......My premiums are still pretty cheap

ETA:

Drive 2 Fords and a Lincoln.

 

[Greyman50]

Insurance agent or county/ city assessors, which are worse? About 10 years ago we asked a contractor at a home and garden show to give us an estament on screening in our back porch and making a Florida room extending out about 10’. Guy came out and told us around $60K for the job which was crazy. About a month later two county assessors showed up when I contested my assessment claiming I had just built the garage in back yard. I had the Original blue prints showing the garage being built with the house 6 years before. That was their excuse as when I opened the vehicle gate they almost ran to the back of the house where the back porch was. I asked them what they were looking at. Seems the contractor turned in a estament to the county! I showed them the original dated blue prints of the garage and told them to get off my property and not to come back.

 

[robvious]

If you have a cell phone they know how fast you are going... and the connection to your car gives them more info... Ford isn't really doing anything new.. except the telling police.. and maybe they will only report the non Ford vehicles.. now THAT would be funny

 

[Jon651]

If you have your phone with you, it is already telling on you. Several apps, like GasBuddy and most navigational apps, have language buried in the terms of service that no one reads allowing them to report to LexisNexis your driving habits. The biggies are speeding (it knows where you are and what the speed limit is), rapid acceleration, and hard braking. Insurance companies buy this info to determine your rate.

Sending it the cops is another matter, though. I don’t know how they would cite you. The fact your phone was speeding doesn’t mean you were. You could just habitually ride with a bad driver.

The vehicle itself sending the info might get you closer to a citation. Interesting times, these.

The moment they link biometric security to starting or operating your car (fingerprint, facial recognition, retinal map, etc.) is when they most likely will cite you. I've been expecting it for several years now but so far the automakers have been slow to implement the same security features that I routinely use on my cellphone and computer to their vehicles. The architecture is there in the new vehicles - it's just a matter of time now.

 

[walter o]

JESUS they got them air bags seat belts now they want to be able to keep track of your car that has just been hi jacked with out your permission,
WAT NEXT O "the skyIS falling"

 

[03hemi]

Information gleaned from Second City Cop (Chicago police blog)

Fines by Mail?
You can bet government - especially broke blue state governments - are exploring ways to make this happen:

Ford is trying to patent a way for its cars to report speeding drivers to the police.
A patent application from the automaker titled “Systems and Methods for Detecting Speeding Violations” was published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Jul. 18 2024, and was originally filed by Ford Jan. 12, 2023.

In the application, Ford discusses using cars to monitor each other’s speeds. If one car detects that a nearby vehicle is being driven above the posted limit, it could use onboard cameras to photograph that vehicle. A report containing both speed data and images of the targeted vehicle could then be sent directly to a police car or roadside monitoring units via an Internet connection, according to Ford.

And just to make sure you hesitate to buy a Ford again, they're also selling your info to insurance companies in order to raise your rates:

Though some of you may know this, many owners will not, so consider this a "Public Service Announcement".

Ford is now selling your driving data to a company called LexisNexis. This company is a New York-based global data broker with a “Risk Solutions” division that caters to the auto insurance industry and has traditionally kept tabs on car accidents and tickets. However, it turns out that LexisNexis is using your driving habits (acceleration, hard braking, speed and how fast you take corners) and forwarding this information on to insurance companies that then increase your insurance rates.
Remember when corporations weren't trying to be stooges of the government?

Labels: we got nothing

posted by SCC at 12:03 AM 0 comments

Just put stickers on the cameras, problem solved.

 

[steelslaver]

Ford getting a patent is probably more about making money off future requirements than any desire to deploy them.

As stated the "theys" can already track any car with any type of "On Star", your GPS signal or your telephone. In some country they already have lots of road cameras, some even implanted in the road itself. Here there are enough n some places they could track your overall speed with no problems.

I can leave my phone home or drop it in a cheap Faraday bag and end that. All my Fords and Lincolns are old enough they have no "nanny" in them.

Red light cameras are illegal in Montana and it wouldn't take much for the people to prohibit tickets from electronics devices

But, as the majority of highway fund channel through the feds they could make those tickets a requirement to receive those funds. Ford Chevy or Prius

 

[somorris]

I like my old Ford F-150. It is built for working, not speeding! If you are worried somebody will find out you are speeding, just don’t drive over the speed limit. Problem solved.

 

[glowe]

This reminds me of my first trip to Singapore years ago. Got into a cab at the airport and headed for my hotel - Raffles of course. We got on the expressway and I noticed a whistling noise coming from our taxi?? I asked the driver what that noise was and he said that the government put whistles on cars that were set at maximum speed limit. It was thought that the police could easily ticket whistling cars if they just waited for them to go by. I asked if it worked? He said roll down your window, which I did only to hear dozens of cars merrily whistling down the road! Cab driver said that there are so many speeders on the highway, the police just gave up trying to ticket them all.

 

[Golddollar]

Cruise control is my friend.

 

[Greyman50]

Well the cruise control on the Hyundai works just fine until you come up behind some D.A. in the Left or center lane going 55 in a 70 mph zone. The “ safety” slows the Hyundai down. I’m still looking for a Train Horn….

 

[ridewv]

.... The “ safety” slows the Hyundai down.….

Can't you just engage regular cruise control rather than adaptive cruise? I never let it engage adaptive cruise. Both my Honda and Toyota have adaptive cruise, but continuing to hold the button longer sets regular cruise.

 

[johngalt]

One point that seems to have been overlooked:

The system, as described, isn't reporting speeding of itself, but of other drivers around it. Refusing to drive such a car isn't going to stop Ford from finking on you.

Seems like a good way to step up road rage to the next level. I suppose those who camp in the left line and have appointed themselves as traffic wardens will love it.

 

[45Smashemflat]

Toyota FJ40 and a CB Radio?