Once upon a time, the only way to hunt down a stolen car was to hit the bricks and hope to spot it in public. These days, a wide array of devices are available to help you track down your car remotely, most recently, however, Apple AirTags. Denver police are hoping to use these tools to help fight the scourge of auto theft in the city.
As reported by CBS News, the Denver Police Department is seeking consent to track residents' cars in the event they are stolen. The DPD is calling for those with tracking devices fitted to their cars to register their consent to tracking with the department itself. The program targets both manufacturer-installed tracking systems, as well as aftermarket GPS trackers, and AirTags. It follows from a similar program started by police in Illinois last year.
The department claims the new "DenverTrack" system will aid in the speedy tracking and recovery of stolen vehicles. The key to the program is having consent forms from affected vehicle owners on file and ready to go. The aim is to use these forms to quickly gain access to real-time location data from car manufacturers, which maintain tracking services through systems like GM's OnStar and Stellantis's Uconnect. Historically, police departments have cited struggles in gaining timely access to live tracking data, as automakers are somewhat careful to protect a driver's privacy in the absence of express written consent from owners.
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