--- title: "License Plate Cameras Will Soon Track Phones, Wearables, Infotainment, and Even Your Pets" date: "2026-06-17" modified: "2026-06-17" authors: - name: "Adam Ismail" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/adam-ismail" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/license-plate-cameras-will-soon-track-phones-wearables-infotainment-and-even-your-pets" categories: - "Car Tech" - "News" --- # License Plate Cameras Will Soon Track Phones, Wearables, Infotainment, and Even Your Pets ![An automated license plate reader is seen mounted on a pole on June 13, 2024 in San Francisco, California.]() *\Justin Sullivan/Getty Images\* If data brokers can track the devices you take with you, they know where you live, where you go, and what you do. And the stakes are only poised to climb higher, now that surveillance companies that sell [automatic license plate readers]() (ALPRs) are getting in on the game. Defense contractor Leonardo is promoting a new technology called SignalTrace that will package plate cameras with sensors that can scrape unique identifiers tied to your smart devices and make that data available to law enforcement. A recent report by *[404 Media]()* dives into the objective of SignalTrace and how it's being marketed to authorities. Police, border security, and other government agencies already comprise Leonardo's customer base, and with this technology, those clients seek to correlate footage from these cameras to phones, tablets, wearables, AirTags, and, naturally, the electronics inside cars themselves. If SignalTrace can pick up your Bluetooth headphones, you can be damn sure it'll also be looking out for your vehicle's 5G hotspot, infotainment system, and even its tire pressure monitoring sensors. Hell, the company includes pet microchips as a potential entry point to tracking. ![SignalTrace graphic showing tracked devices]() *An excerpt from Leonardo's own literature on SignalTrace. [*Leonardo US Cyber and Security Solutions*]()* The goal here, as *404* sums up, is to "bridge the gap between vehicle and occupant." Previously, these cameras could track a car's whereabouts at a given time. Throw in a glut of unique identifiers, though, and the job of tying an individual or multiple people to that vehicle becomes trivial—and not something anyone can simply opt out of. Of course, ALPRs were already bad news; the [Electronic Frontier Foundation found]() that the simple act of repeatedly capturing photos of cars in transit at multiple points of their journeys, day in and day out, was enough to establish someone's "pattern of life" and even identify those they associate with. Leonardo was granted the patent for the technology that underpins SignalTrace two years ago. A [press release]() announcing the milestone concludes with a disclaimer that the company's tech "captures device frequencies emitted into the air" and "does not decrypt or capture the contents of the devices or their communications." That's precisely how these firms are able to evade culpability for the surveillance they enable. Whether they're cracking encryption or not, the results are the same. *Got a news tip? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com* ## Author Adam is a Senior Editor at The Drive, concentrating on curating and developing the site's slate of daily journalism, from initial pitch to final copy edit. When he's not at his desk researching leads and working with writers, he's testing vehicles or reviewing racing games, new and old. He joined The Drive in 2023, following seven years of covering consumer technology and cars. A car lover and gamer since his earliest memories, Adam came to know the automotive world through video games. First it was Daytona USA, Sega Rally, and Ridge Racer; then came Need For Speed, which inspired an encyclopedic knowledge of '90s supercars, and, of course, Gran Turismo. If not for them, he'd assuredly be doing something else right now. Adam is based in the suburbs outside Philly, where there are ample roads for his hot hatch to stretch its legs. In his car, he's probably listening to indie rock, drum and bass, or Yankees baseball. ### Author social links [Bluesky]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()