The surveillance state just came up with a new way to track, collect and beam your sensitive data back to the mother ship. With 1984 in the rear-view mirror, everybody knows that George Orwell’s warning was embraced by the liberal left as a textbook on how to take control. Joe Biden proves that it works flawlessly. Over the years, Big Brother got a sex change and a makeover by the PR department so now you’re monitored night-and-day by your less-sinister little sister, Alexa. She’ll be with you every waking moment. From now on, she’ll be standard equipment with Ford models.
Track you on the road
Ford will soon be able to track all of your habits and behavior — good, bad or illegal, as your ride gets digitally hooked to the internet of things. Along with it will come the days of the ransom screen that says “if you want to get to work, fork over some Bitcoin.”
Bob Heinlein thought he was reaching when he described what was basically the OnStar System in “Stranger in a Strange Land.” The only difference is that OnStar doesn’t have the sleepy gas feature to disable the driver when the police think it’s appropriate. At least, not yet.
A full four years ago, Ford introduced a partnership with Amazon to offer a suite of integrated controls for home devices. They just came up with a new and improved version and they are making it so that all future updates can take place seamlessly without the customer being bothered with any of the pesky details. Along with built-in Alexa voice assistant comes a wireless software update ecosystem.
The call it “Power-Up.” It will literally track your every move, and how fast you were moving. Soon it may be able to tell if you’re impaired or distracted. With growing autopilot features, you could end up parked in front of the police station with all the doors locked and windows that won’t go down until officer friendly comes along to say hello.
Ford has everyone talking about how wonderful it will be that “virtually all” of the computer modules can be updated at will to track every inch you drive, “not just the ones that focus on infotainment.” They expect to have “33 million vehicles equipped with this service and Alexa by 2028.” They don’t even call themselves a “motor” company anymore, Ford is a “technology company.”
They’re convinced “that data is the new oil, since it’s essential to our electric future and enables us to have an always-on relationship with our customer.” Alex Purdy, head of Ford’s business operations for enterprise connectivity stole the “new oil” line from Intel CEO Brian Krzanich.
Fewer repair trips
Purdy hopes to lure customers into a false sense of security by hyping how the new software “may reduce the need for repair trips.”
Besides that, police won’t need to plug into your computer to track where you were, when, and how fast you got there and left, then where you went afterward. “Many of the software updates will require little to no action from the driver.”
Drivers are being tempted by the built-in Alexa assistant to “use voice control to start or stop their engine, lock or unlock doors, defrost their windows, make a call or play music.” How convenient. If you have Alexa smart home devices you can use them from the car by voice. She will track not just your movements but your preferences.
The “new software ecosystem will give Ford data on how vehicle owners use their cars.” That’s why “Ford is giving all drivers complimentary access to Alexa for three years, suggesting that the automaker will likely receive mountains of very valuable information on the behavior of its customers.”
The funky features “will be delivered via a Power-Up software update this fall beginning with F-150, Mach-E, Bronco, Edge and Super Duty customers.” After that, Ford won’t rest until every one of their models rolling off the assembly lines are similarly equipped. Back in February, the company announced that they’re teaming up with Google to make Android part of the package as well.
That way, they can track your cell phone from your car while you’re away from it. Amazon would love to know which of the businesses in the strip mall you visit, while officer friendly would love to know what apartment in the complex you walked up to and came back from ten minutes later. Especially because you came back about 15.9 ounces heavier, as relayed by the sensor under your seat.