It’s always something. Now it’s the tire pressure sensors spying on you. In a new paper being submitted to IEEE, researchers found that automobile tire sensors are broadcasting unencrypted identifying data that can be easily sensed on a roadway with a $100 radio receiver and used to track vehicles. The data packet contains a unique identifier for the vehicle, and includes the tire pressure readings themselves, which could be used to determine if the vehicle was carrying passengers or cargo.
Just another example of the security risks involved with the over-instrumentation in today’s cars. My experience with these tire pressure sensors has been that they are prone to failure and often inaccurate. But at least someone can get use out of them, I guess.