Ford may soon be able to directly disable features and lock down cars whose owners have fallen behind on payments using a technology they’ve filed a patent for.
The application for the patent was submitted in August of 2021, and the publication date for the invention was Feb. 23, 2023. Official copyright has not yet been granted yet, but according to a report from the Washington Times, any car that can connect to WiFi could potentially have this repossession technology.
“A financial institution could, after notifying an owner of delinquency on payments and not receiving a response, use its computer to notify the vehicle’s computer, either shutting off a car feature or locking out the driver entirely,” the report explains. “A carveout in the lockdown protocol would also be put in place, allowing temporary use of the vehicle in case of emergency.”
The report continued, “Repossession computers could also be configured to connect with law enforcement and medical facilities, giving them the ability to stop some car features or shut down the vehicle as well.”
While this may sound like an efficient way to ensure car owners are keeping up with their payments, car manufacturers and banks have so far been able to handle owners who miss payments without the use of this technology. So why do they need it now? When someone misses a certain number of payments, the car is repossessed, end of story — no fancy technology required.
Frankly, it’s hard not to be concerned about the potential abuse of this technology. This week we learned that PNC Financial Services Group Inc. abruptly ended its relationship with Don Trump Jr.’s news aggregation app, MxM News, which was designed to be a more balanced alternative to Apple News or Google News. There are many stories of financial censorship of this kind, and it’s hard not to be concerned that it could be used to target consumers who don’t align with a particular company’s political values. Imagine having features in your turned off because you spoke out against drag queen story hour. This technology being pursued by Ford could certainly be used that way.
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