Tire Sensors Enable Silent Tracking

Researchers found that tire pressure monitoring sensors (TPMS), required in U.S. cars since 2007, broadcast fixed, unique sensor IDs in clear text. Those transmissions can be intercepted 40–50 meters away with roughly $100 of equipment, allowing outsiders to detect, track, and infer vehicle class, weight, and driving patterns. — This reveals a cheap, overlooked surveillance vector that raises concrete privacy and safety risks and suggests a need for regulatory or engineering fixes (encryption, rotating IDs, or authentication) for automotive sensor standards.