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SignalTrace is a surveillance platform that is being marketed to law enforcement and government agencies in the United States.  It allows the collection of data from various personal digital devices, including smartphones and smartwatches, carried or worn by people associated with a particular vehicle.

The goal of the technology is to “bridge the gap between vehicle and occupant,” creating a unique electronic fingerprint to follow people’s movements and associations.

They are no longer interested in tracking your car. They are interested in tracking you.

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In 2024, a patent was granted to Leonardo, a leading global aerospace, defence, security and surveillance company, for an electronic detection system designed to help law enforcement identify people of interest using the signatures their electronic devices emit, such as fitness trackers, RFID tags and local signals from their mobile phones. 

This technology underpins the ELSAG SignalTrace Intelligence System, which Leonardo is marketing to police, border security and other government agencies in the United States.

SignalTrace “bridges license plate recognition data with sensor-captured device identifiers – such as those from mobile phones, Bluetooth wearables, and vehicle systems – to create a unique, trackable ‘electronic fingerprint’ for investigative use,” according to an advertisement flyer.

The idea is to correlate these unique device identifiers to a vehicle license plate, 404 Media said. Putting it more succinctly, The Drive said, “License plate cameras will soon track phones, wearables, infotainment and even your pets.”

In the following, Marin Armstrong explains more.

Your Car Was Never the Target

By Martin Armstrong, as published by Armstrong Economics on 22 June 2026

For years, governments assured the public that license plate readers were simply tools to catch stolen vehicles, fugitives and dangerous criminals. That was always the sales pitch. Now the mask is coming off.

According to reports, a new surveillance platform called SignalTrace is being marketed to law enforcement and government agencies that goes far beyond reading license plates. The system can collect identifiers from smartphones, smartwatches, Bluetooth devices, vehicle infotainment systems, Wi-Fi hotspots, tyre pressure sensors, RFID devices, AirTags and even pet microchips.

They are no longer interested in tracking your car. They are interested in tracking you.

The frightening part is how openly this is being discussed. The stated goal of the technology is to “bridge the gap between vehicle and occupant.” In other words, the authorities no longer want to know where a vehicle travelled. They want to know who was inside, where they went, who they met and how often they travelled together. The system creates a unique electronic fingerprint based on the collection of devices surrounding a person. Your phone, your watch, your headphones, your car and even your dog’s microchip become pieces of a digital identity that can be followed everywhere you go.

This is exactly how governments always expand surveillance. They begin with a limited purpose that sounds reasonable. Then the technology advances and suddenly the scope becomes limitless.

License plate readers were sold as crime-fighting tools. Then they became databases of vehicle movements. Now they are evolving into systems that can reconstruct an individual’s entire pattern of life.

Privacy advocates have warned that these systems can reveal where people work, where they worship, where they seek medical treatment and who they associate with. Once that information exists in a searchable database, every government agency will want access.

What is unfolding is part of a much broader trend. Governments around the world are building digital identification systems, expanding financial surveillance, monitoring communications and centralising personal data.

At the same time, law enforcement agencies are seeking nationwide access to license plate reader networks that provide near real-time tracking capabilities across the United States. The infrastructure is being assembled piece by piece. Most people only see each individual step. They fail to recognise the larger picture until the system is fully operational.

The argument will always be security. It is the oldest justification in history. Every expansion of government power is presented as necessary for public safety. Yet once these surveillance systems are built, they are rarely scaled back. Instead, new uses are constantly discovered. Today, the target is criminals. Tomorrow, it may be political opponents, protesters, journalists or anyone deemed suspicious by those in power. History has repeatedly shown that governments never surrender tools that enhance control over the population.

The greatest threat is not the technology itself. Technology is neutral. The danger lies in believing that governments, corporations and bureaucracies can be trusted indefinitely with unlimited access to information about every citizen’s movements, associations and daily life.

When your phone, your vehicle, your wearable devices and even your pet become tracking beacons feeding a centralised surveillance network, we are no longer talking about crime prevention. We are talking about the creation of a digital leash attached to every person. Once that infrastructure exists, the temptation to abuse it becomes inevitable.

About the Author

Martin A. Armstrong is an American economic forecaster best known for developing the Economic Confidence Model. He gained notoriety for predicting the 19 October 1987 stock market crash to the exact day and the 1998 Russian financial crisis. By 1990, Martin’s forecast for the collapse of Communism in 1989 and the collapse of the Japanese Asset Bubble in 1989 earned him being named America’s top Economist. He continues to publish forecasts through Armstrong Economics.

Featured image taken from SignalTrace advertisement flyer for the United States market