In perhaps the best example yet of how “smart” systems can actually hinder consumers, a new patent application from American motor conglomerate Ford is raising quite a few eyebrows.
As first reported by the motorist enthusiast website The Drive, this patent document (which you can view yourself here) is labeled “Systems And Methods To Repossess A Vehicle,” and it’s as exactly customer-friendly for Ford owners as it sounds.
The patent, which was filed in August 2021 but not formally published until last week, largely outlines the various methods in which how a car dealership/financier can work around car owners who have missed or are habitually late on car payments.
“The disclosure generally pertains to systems and methods to repossess a vehicle,” the patent’s opening line under “Abstract” reads.
The rest of the patent abstract describes a rather dystopian-sounding system wherein which various computer systems have, effectively, replaced the repo man.
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The example cited in the abstract depicts a pair of computers, one in the car and the other with a financing agency (or bank or lender.)
The computer with the agency may flag the system that a car owner is delinquent on a payment. That system then sends a message to the computer in the car.
Once the car computer receives that message, and some time has passed without a response from the owner, that car computer could take over the entire vehicle.
“When an acknowledgement is not received within a reasonable period of time, the first computer may disable a functionality of a component of the vehicle or may place the vehicle in a lockout condition,” the patent reads.
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Something as wide-ranging as “may disable a functionality of a component of the vehicle” could cover anything from your windows to the radio dial.
The patent does note that those lockouts could be temporarily lifted in the event of a medical emergency.
“The first step of the multi-step repossession procedure may involve the computer instructing the repossession system…
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