Ford Files Patent to Do This If You Miss a Car Payment
Drivers could face some challenges in the event of a missed payment.
Ford Motor Company has recently made headlines for filing a patent that would allow the company to disable components of, or a vehicle itself if an owner misses a payment. Of course, this created controversy and concern amongst consumers, who are worried about the implications of this new potential technology.
According to the patent filing, this new feature would allow Ford to remotely disable a vehicle if the owner fails to make a payment. The system would work by using a combination of sensors and GPS technology to determine the location of the vehicle, and then sending a signal to the car to prevent it from starting. It is similar to technology utilized by rental car companies to make sure that renters bring their car back on time.
Besides the fact of Ford being able to disable a vehicle just for a missed payment, which raises questions about personal property rights, there are other concerns about the technology glitching.
As we all know, technology likes to stop working at moments when we need it the most – in other words, it glitches. If the patent pending technology by Ford malfunctions in any way, it could potentially lock people out of their cars even if they were up to date on their payments, leading to serious safety risks; especially if someone were to be stranded in a dangerous location.
Additionally, since this technology would utilize the car’s GPS system, the concern of privacy invasion is a factor. Ford has said that the technology would only be used to track a car’s location in the event of a missed payment, but there is no guarantee that the data collected would not be used for other purposes in the future.
Because of the backlash that the company is facing due of their proposal, Ford has said that there are no current plans to use this technology, and that they were only developing it to explore potential ideas.
