26/08/2026
A new form of roadside surveillance technology is being marketed to law enforcement that could allow investigators to identify and track vehicles, and potentially the people travelling in them.
This new tech can pick up information through the electronic devices drivers and passengers are carrying in their vehicle.
As we all become more digitally attached, it opens up a new world of authority tracking, for better or worse!
More than a number
SignalTrace, developed by Leonardo’s ELSAG security division, is designed to work alongside automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) systems.
Rather than relying solely on a vehicle’s registration, the technology detects signals emitted by nearby electronic devices, including smartphones, smartwatches, Bluetooth devices, RFID tags and some vehicle components.
Leonardo says SignalTrace can identify groups of devices that regularly travel together and create an “electronic fingerprint” from their recurring signals.
That fingerprint can then be correlated with licence-plate records and locations, allowing investigators to search for a vehicle or group of devices even when they do not initially know its registration.
General specifics
The company says the system does not decrypt or read the contents of communications.
Instead, it collects electronic identifiers already being broadcast by devices and uses patterns of association and movement to generate investigative leads.
In practice, that could mean a person who regularly travels in the same car as a colleague has their phone and smartwatch repeatedly recorded alongside the vehicle’s registration.
If one of those devices later appears alongside another vehicle of interest to police, the recurring electronic signature could provide an investigative link.
Leonardo’s UK operation describes the technology as a form of Vehicle Electronic Signature Recognition, or digital fingerprinting, capable of collecting information from devices to help identify vehicles. It says the technology can provide post-event analysis as well as real-time intelligence.